understanding

Your country is more precious and more to be revered and is holier and in higher esteem among the gods and among men of understanding than your mother and your father and all your ancestors.

—Plato

Pluralismöthat is, the conception that there are many different ends that men may seek and still be fully rational, fully men, capable of understanding each other and sympathising and deriving light from each other.

—Berlin, Sir Isaiah

Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

—Bible (Old Testament)

The artist does not tinker with the universe; he recreates it out of his own experience and understanding of life.

—Miller, Henry Valentine

   He showed me something small, no bigger than a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed to me, and it was as round as a ball. I looked at it with the eye of my understanding, and thought: What can this be? I was amazed that it could last, for I thought that because of its littleness it would suddenly have fallen intonothing. And Iwas answered inmy understanding: It lasts and always will, because God loves it; and thus every thing has being through the love of God.

—Julian of Norwich known as LadyJulian

Sir,Ihave found youanargument; but Iam not obligedto find you an understanding.

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson

An unalterable and unquestioned law of the musical world required that the German text of French operas sung by Swedish artists should be translated into Italian for the clearer understanding of English speaking audiences.

—Wharton, Edith Newbold ne¤  e Jones

Next to the coming to a good understanding with a new mistress, I love a quarrel with an old one.

—Etherege, Sir George

With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.

—Bible (Old Testament)

Education, n. That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.

—Bierce, Ambrose Gwinett

   Trust in the L with all thine heart; and lean not unto Psalms thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

—Bible (Old Testament)

Miss not the discourse of the elders: for theyalso learned of their fathers, and of them thou shalt learn understanding, and to give answer as need requireth.

—Bible (Apocrypha)

I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

—Bible (Old Testament)

The man whose life is spent in performing a few simple operations of which the effects too are, perhaps, always the same or very nearly the same, has no occasion to exert his understanding, or to exercise his invention. He generally becomes asstupidand ignorant asit ispossible for a human creature to become.

—Smith, Adam

There are two ways to teach mathematics.One is to take real pains toward creating understandingövisual aids, that sort of thing. The other is the old British style of teaching until you're blue in the face.

—Newman,James R

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keepyourheartsandmindsintheknowledgeand love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you and remain with you always. Amen.

—Book of Common Prayer

She was thinkingöfor, since she had been formed by literature, she could think in no other wayöthat all this had been described in Dickens,Tolstoy, Hugo, Dostoevsky, and a dozen others. All that noble and terrific indignation had done nothing, achieved nothing, the shout of anger from the nineteenth century might as well have been silentöfor here came the file of prisoners, handcuffed two by two, and on their faces was that same immemorial look of patient, sardonic understanding.

—Lessing, Doris May ne¤  e Tayler

Wideand undetermined prospects areas pleasing tothe fancy, as the speculations of eternity or infinitude are to the understanding.

—Addison,Joseph

Until you understand a writer's ignorance, presume yourself ignorant of his understanding.

—Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

There is at least one philosophical problem in which all thinking men are interested. It is the problem of cosmology: the problem of understanding the worldöincluding ourselves, and our knowledge, as part of the world. All science is cosmology, I believe, and for me the interest of philosophy, no less than that of science, lies solely in the contributions which it has made to it.

—Popper, Sir Karl Raimund

They, who would combat general authority with particular opinion, must first establish themselves a reputation of understanding better than other men.

—Dryden,John

With lack of sleep and too much understanding I grow a little crazy,Ithink, likeall menat seawho livetoo closeto each other and too close thereby to all that is monstrous under the sun and moon.

—Golding, Sir William (Gerald)

DerVerstand vermag nichts anzuschauen, und die Sinne nichts zu denken. Nur daraus, dass sie sich vereinigen, kann Erkenntnis entspringen. The understanding can intuit nothing, the senses can think nothing.Only through their union can knowledge arise.

—Kant, Immanuel

The entrance of thy wordsgiveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

—Bible (Old Testament)

  Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

—Bible (Old Testament)

Her mind was less difficult to develop. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper.

—Austen,Jane

De tant comme femmes ont le corps plus delie que les hommes, plus foible et moins habille a plusieurs choses faire, de tant ont elles l'entendement plus a delivre et plus agu ou elles s'appliquent. Just as women's bodies are more delicate than men's, weaker and less able for many things, so, where they apply themselves, their understanding is freer and sharper.

—Christine de Pisan