"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but a little want of knowledge is also a dangerous thing"
- Samuel Butler
About this Quote
This quote by Samuel Butler is an alerting about the risks of having insufficient understanding. It recommends that having a small amount of understanding can be unsafe since it can cause overconfidence and a false complacency. On the other hand, having insufficient knowledge can likewise threaten due to the fact that it can cause ignorance and an absence of understanding. In either case, the absence of understanding can result in mistakes and bad decisions. This quote is a reminder to be knowledgeable about the risks of both having excessive and too little understanding. It motivates us to strive for a balance in between the 2, so that we can make educated choices and prevent the pitfalls of either extreme.
"A lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason; if he possesses some knowledge of these, he may venture to call himself an architect"