WIST Quotations

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], Book 1, ch. 25 (1.25) / sec. 60 (1.60) (45 BC) [tr. Wase (1643)]

Dave — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 20:03:57 +0000

MARCUS: Nor am I asham’d, as some others are, to confess I do not know, what I do not.

[Nec me pudet ut istos fateri nescire quod nesciam.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], Book 1, ch. 25 (1.25) / sec. 60 (1.60) (45 BC) [tr. Wase (1643)]
(Source)

Discussing his uncertainty of what the immortal soul is made of, versus others that pretend at knowing the answer.

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

Nor am I, like those, ashamed to own where I am ignorant, that I am so.
[tr. Main (1824)]

Nor am I ashamed, as those are, to confess my ignorance of what I do not know.
[tr. Otis (1839)]

Nor am I, as those men are, ashamed in cases where I am ignorant, to own that I am so.
[tr. Yonge (1853)]

And I am not ashamed, like those who deny that there is a soul, to confess my ignorance of what I do not know.
[tr. Peabody (1886)]

Nor am I ashamed -- as some whom you wot of -- to confess that I do not know what I do not know.
[tr. Black (1889)]

I am not, like some men, ashamed to confess my ignorance when I do not know.
[ed. Harbottle (1897)]

Nor am I ashamed, as they are, to admit that I do not know what I do not know.
[tr. Douglas (1985)]

And I'm not embarrassed (unlike others) to admit that I don't know.
[tr. Habinek (1996)]

And unlike those others, I am not ashamed to admit to my ignorance where I am ignorant.
[tr. Davie (2017)]

Montgomery, Lucy Maud -- Anne of the Island, ch. 2 (1915)

Dave — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 15:38:58 +0000

But feeling is so different from knowing. My common sense tells me all you can say, but there are times when common sense has no power over me. Common nonsense takes possession of my soul.

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874–1942) Canadian author
Anne of the Island, ch. 2 (1915)
(Source)

Scott-Maxwell, Florida -- Women and Sometimes Men (1957)

Dave — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 21:39:47 +0000

One hardly dares to say that love is the core of the relationship, though love is sought for and created in relationship; love is rather the marvel when it is there, but it is not always there, and to know another and to be known by another — that is everything.

Florida Scott-Maxwell (1883–1979) American-British playwright, author, psychologist
Women and Sometimes Men (1957)
(Source)

Horace -- Odes [Carmina], Book 4, # 4, l. 22 (4.4.22) (23 BC)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

To know all things is not permitted.

[Nec scire fas est omnia.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 4, # 4, l. 22 (4.4.22) (23 BC)
(Source)

Common English translation, dating back to at least the late 19th Century.

In a number of translations, this phrase is elided or blurred into the surrounding text. Only distinct expressions of the sentiment are given below.

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

Not all of truth
We seekers find.
[tr. Conington (1872)]

Neither is it possible to discover everything.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

Nor everything to know, may any mortal dare.
[tr. Martin (1864)]

Nor is the lore
Of all things lore allowed.
[tr. Bulwer-Lytton (1870)]

Neither is it lawful to know all things.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]

For us to know
All things is not heaven's will.
[tr. Garnsey (1907)]

All things man may not learn.
[tr. Marshall (1908)]

Nor is it vouchsafed to know all things.
[tr. Bennett (Loeb) (1912)]

Not all things may one know.
[tr. Mills (1924)]

Nor should men sound all knowledge.
[tr. Michie (1963)]

It is not lawful to know all things.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]

It’s not right to know everything.
[tr. Kline (2015)]