This is an important tenet in modern science that would serve us well in life, too. Anyone who says they have reached the final end of knowledge is not a true scientist. When good scientists make an important discovery, they do not feel that this means an end to their experiments or exploration.
You may know a great deal but also know that you can still learn from others and from new experiences. Your wisdom shows you that there is always more to learn. This is where a healthy humility keeps open the door to improvement. Pride, by contrast, closes that door. You sit behind that closed door telling yourself you are better than anyone else. The egocentric walls that box us in are constructed in just this way.
17th Karmapa
from the book Interconnected: Embracing Life in Our Global Society
Read a random quote or see all quotes by the 17th Karmapa.
Further quotes from the book Interconnected:
- Our intimate dependence on the natural environment
- Extend yourself and connect
- The opportunity to love
- Noticing the collective effects of our individual actions
- The full vividness of direct contact
- Gradual change
- Time to act
- Recollecting kindness
- Outer and inner world
- Interdependent individual
- Knowing more is not a substitute for feeling more
- Becoming stuck in a quagmire of self-obsession
- Freedom
- The best way to love oneself
- Gratitude
- Focusing on our inner interdependence
- A main condition for our selfishness
- His Loneliness
- Concealing our weaknesses
- Inner freedom is key