Do not desire to be thought to know anything; and though you should appear to others to be somebody, distrust yourself.

A young bamboo shoot growing among mature bamboo in soft morning light. — AI-generated editorial illustration · Quotations

What does this quotation mean?

From Section XIII (Higginson translation) of The Enchiridion. Read the surrounding argument as well as the excerpt; its historical language and philosophical assumptions shape its meaning.

Sources and attribution

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Source: The Enchiridion , Section XIII (Higginson translation)

Edition: Thomas Wentworth Higginson translation · Translated by Thomas Wentworth Higginson

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From The Enchiridion

Excerpt checked against the linked public-domain English edition. Korean rendering and context note by Quotations; not an authorized translation. Historical punctuation is retained; line breaks and editorial footnote markers are normalized.

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