Books provide knowledge, life furnishes understanding.
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Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.
quote by Henry Ward Beecher

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Understanding and Knowledge
Those who know don’t talk;
Those who talk don’t know;
Those who speak don’t write;
Those who write don’t speak.
Those who think don’t actions;
Those who actions don’t think;
Those who think don’t judge;
Those who judge don’t do.
Small understanding is no match for great understanding;
Small knowledge cannot understand great knowledge knows.
Great wisdom has great understanding;
Great knowledge has wise sayings.
Great knowledge and understanding is wide and vast;
Small knowledge and understanding is trivial and cramped.
Great speech blaze forth as a huge fire;
Small speech is empty and trivial.
We understand what is appropriate;
Because of what we understand to be inappropriate.
We understand right;
Because of our understanding of wrong.
Use the light of wisdom to see,
Beyond the world of right and wrong.
One can only really understand things,
By understanding one’s true self.
(extracted and translated from Tao Te Cheng Book)
© Nov 2011 Lawrence Hiung
poem by Lawrence Hiung

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Universities exist to transmit knowledge and understanding of ideas and values to students not to provide entertainment for spectators or employment for athletes.
quote by Milton Friedman

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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On Books
Books are my first love, I’m so proud to read;
They give me knowledge and help life to lead;
Hours, days just pass by, by reading life-time;
Life would not be worth, if not for my rhyme.
Great are those people who write books all life;
Burning just candles, with Goose-quills in strife;
Tired of writing though day-long or night,
They keep on writing in such a bad light.
Books serve a great cause; their value can’t cease;
It takes years to write but reading is ease;
Book-makers struggle to print a few books;
And keep spending time to, improve their looks.
Some find their way to libraries in town;
Some remain untouched and nev’r taken down;
Silver-fish, Moths eat the books that are old;
Some are gone obsolete, some sold like gold.
Some are in tatters and must be rebound;
Books are Man’s best friends where solace is found;
Reading for long hours, does help you to learn;
Books give much knowledge and wisdom to men.
Read books with great care whose weight is in gold;
Serve generations though they may be old;
Source of much Info, deserving respect;
Books are life-partners whom you ne’er reject!
poem by John Celes

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The computer and its information cannot answer any of the fundamental questions we need to address to make our lives more meaningful and humane. The computer cannot provide an organizing moral framework. It cannot tell us what questions are worth asking. It cannot provide a means of understanding why we are here or why we fight each other or why decency eludes us so often, especially when we need it the most. The computer is... a magnificent toy that distracts us from facing what we most need to confront — spiritual emptiness, knowledge of ourselves, usable conceptions of the past and future.
quote by Neil Postman

Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.
quote by John Locke

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Gift of Knowledge
Desks of understanding can never replace
The books of amazing nature, the real
Relishing designs that cost a lot of knowledge.
Destroy our men from the goodness of learning,
Good is their prize of joy, the force of days
That reveal a prize, and more prizes.
The medals I deem essential are golden,
Like forming wet puddles in the ground,
Over a reason my puddles are heard, the medals.
Knowledge is perfect, is exact in rests and seizures,
But we are old forms, resting bones from all exercises,
From bandages and wounds contrived by the wounded.
Understanding is the present of the heart
To a wounded man of brilliance.
poem by Naveed Akram

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Sonnets : On Books
What wealth of knowledge, Books have stored for us?
What precious time, some writers sacrificed?
When libraries lend Books without much fuss,
‘Tis sad why readers don't get much enticed?
What use are Books when only kept in racks?
How sad to see them acquire cob-webs?
'Tis sad when Silver-fish consume Book-stacks;
And Knowledge too has its high tides and ebbs!
Books are companions to man's progress;
They serve to guide a man to live aright;
Books are like dolls children with love caress;
They help a man in darkness to see light!
Book-cost is nothing compared to value,
They are true friends of men; give respect due.
poem by John Celes

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Death Pains
Birth life death
Joy happiness mourning
Unity separation solitude
Ignorance knowledge understanding
Death life then birth
Mourning happiness then joy
Separation solitude then unity
Understanding yields knowledge
And extinguishes the flame of ignorance
Death pains sorrowful
The separation we hate
Understanding the sought out fate
Death pains a lingering task
burns inside like a hot water flask
poem by Mazwi Sedibe

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The School Of Life...
The place were much was learned; The School Of Life.
A far different place than papers, books, and homework.
The School of Life, is a never ending, when it comes to lessons.
In The School Of Life, I have learned, that not
all, is ever learned, or comprehended.
The School Of Life, often teaches one, some bitter and
disappointing lessons.
This school, reveals much in the way of surprises. Many
that of a happy nature and some, devastating.
Somehow, The School Of Life, teaches one, to keep going.
To try...try and try again. We learn that much is gained
through tenacity. We learn it matters not how many times
one is knocked down, for it is how many times we get
up, that is the test in this school.
We learn of mans inhumanity to man. We learn that in
helping our fellow human beings, there is much reward.
We learn, that The School Of Life, has no graduating day.
We learn, that we remain, an ongoing student of education.
The School Of Life, does have its rewards; a diploma of
knowledge, understanding and wisdom.
The School Of Life, better than any college in the world.
The School of Life, where knowledge is ones ticket to
anyplace in the world.
Learn ye well, for in The School Of Life, one does not
have the opportunity to repeat a grade.
The School Of Life
The place were much was learned; The School Of Life.
A far different place than papers, books, and homework.
The School of Life, is a never ending, when it comes to lessons.
In The School Of Life, I have learned, that not
all, is ever learned, or comprehended.
The School Of Life, often teaches one, some bitter and
disappointing lessons.
This school, reveals much in the way of surprises. Many
that of a happy nature and some, devastating.
Somehow, The School Of Life, teaches one, to keep going.
To try...try and try again. We learn that much is gained
through tenacity. We learn it matters not how many times
one is knocked down, for it is how many times we get
up, that is the test in this school.
We learn of mans inhumanity to man. We learn that in
helping our fellow human beings, there is much reward.
We learn, that The School Of Life, has no graduating day.
We learn, that we remain, an ongoing student of education.
The School Of Life, does have its rewards; a diploma of
knowledge, understanding and wisdom.
The School Of Life, better than any college in the world.
The School of Life, where knowledge is ones ticket to
anyplace in the world.
Learn ye well, for in The School Of Life, one does not
have the opportunity to repeat a grade.
Higher Education...
The place were much was learned; The School Of Life.
A far different place than papers, books, and homework.
The School of Life, is a never ending, when it comes to lessons.
In The School Of Life, I have learned, that not
all, is ever learned, or comprehended.
The School Of Life, often teaches one, some bitter and
disappointing lessons.
This school, reveals much in the way of surprises. Many
that of a happy nature and some, devastating.
Somehow, The School Of Life, teaches one, to keep going.
To try...try and try again. We learn that much is gained
through tenacity. We learn it matters not how many times
one is knocked down, for it is how many times we get
up, that is the test in this school.
We learn of mans inhumanity to man. We learn that in
helping our fellow human beings, there is much reward.
We learn, that The School Of Life, has no graduating day.
We learn, that we remain, an ongoing student of education.
The School Of Life, does have its rewards; a diploma of
knowledge, understanding and wisdom.
The School Of Life, better than any college in the world.
The School of Life, where knowledge is ones ticket to
anyplace in the world.
Learn ye well, for in The School Of Life, one does not
have the opportunity to repeat a grade.
Sonnet: On Knowledge
Knowledge is one thing priceless, people want;
Knowledge is something gained by labor long;
Knowledge is infinite; master, you-can't;
Knowledge is changeable, much like a song.
Knowledge is deeper than the oceans deep;
Knowledge is larger than the Universe;
Knowledge is barely in life, just a peep;
Knowledge if badly used becomes God's curse.
Knowledge remains undiminished, tho' you- share;
Knowledge gives man, a civilised outlook;
Knowledge if improper, you ought to pare;
Knowledge is gained from Nature and by book.
Knowledge can make a man a wiser one;
Knowledge gives Wisdom in the longer run.
poem by John Celes

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A Friend Is Most Important!
Confidence, courage and guidance friend gives to one;
To a friend only one can confide anything in the world;
Such a friend only can be with one till the end of life!
If there is no friend who can be a friend to one here?
Father or mother can be a friend to a friendless person;
Otherwise Nature is the best friend for one in the world.
Without them only conscience can be a friend to one;
Knowledge from books is a best friend to one anywhere!
If anything is of no use then only God is the sure friend!
Shakespeare, Dickens, Homer and Vyasa have said all
About friends, their activities in life for heroes in stories!
Love and friendship are most important in life for anyone.
Knowledge and ideas of great books and friends are ever
Indeed of great help in life and hope, virtue and power!
poem by Ramesh T A

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Data is not information, information is not knowledge, knowledge is not understanding, understanding is not wisdom.
quote by Clifford Stoll

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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No one bothered reading the books and understanding - and again, I'm not being high-falutin' about it - but I think our books are great literature with great metaphors of real life dealing with fears and hopes.

Teaching XVIII
Then said a teacher, "Speak to us of Teaching."
And he said:
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of our knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.
The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.
And even as each one of you stands alone in God's knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.
poem by Khalil Gibran

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It always seems to me extreme rashness on the part of some when they want to make human abilities the measure of what nature can do. On the contrary, there is not a single effect in nature, even the least that exists, such that the most ingenious theorists can arrive at a complete understanding of it. This vain presumption of understanding everything can have no other basis than never understanding anything. For anyone who had experienced just once the perfect understanding of
one single thing, and had truly tasted how knowledge is accomplished, would recognize that of the infinity of other truths he understands nothing.
quote by Galileo Galile

Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Without Knowledge Or Skills To Address
Would others judge so quickly,
If they were selected and picked...
To be gifted with intelligence?
And expected to provide evidence of it.
On a regular basis.
With nothing else to do,
But to prove it and not disappoint.
And those who are depicted that way,
Seem only motivated to a comprehending of life.
With a listening to achieve understanding.
Hoping that a discipline to accomplish dreams...
Does not continue to depict them,
As lucky when something done that they do...
Is given an attention.
While others seek with a hoping,
That their physical attributes warrants...
A getting of some attention that is mentioned too!
Afterall...
Isn't it how one looks and not what one does,
That achieves everlasting success...
Without knowledge or skills to address?
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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We As Part Of The World Interpret
we as part
of the world
interpret
things
of the world
according to
our own
understanding
media powers
that be
have their own
agenda
framework
of their mind
their bias
impacts
upon
our own
perception
understanding
these ideas
concepts
agendas
flavour
influence
our own
emotions
understanding
according
to our own
opinions
knowledge
personality
we all
interpret
personally
individually
within
collective
mind
of
our society
affirming
or rejecting
main stream
ideas
filtering
understanding
through
fragments
pieces
of knowledge
we know
this
is
self
explanatory
Copyright © Terence George Craddock
The original draft stream of consciousness version of this poem is ‘We As Part Of The World Interpret’.
poem by Terence George Craddock

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