Tuesday, November 22, 2016

misc. thoughts on polymathy



As always, some are for it, and some are against it.

To want to know more than is sufficient is a form of intemperance. BUT 
It is better to know useless things than to know nothing.
Seneca, letter 88

I guess that Seneca couldn't make up his mind on the subject.


All men should be educated in all things in all ways.
John Amos Comenius, The Pampaedia


Mediocre men often have the most acquired knowledge.
Claude Bernard, Experimental Medicine, Chapter 2.


It is my definite opinion that only the man who has investigated all the branches of knowledge has the right to be called learned.
St. Thomas More, letter to Martin Dorp, October 21, 1515, in Elizabeth Frances Rogers, St. Thomas More: Selected Letters

No comments:

Post a Comment