quote · Legacy record
This is that which I think great readers are apt to be mistaken in. Those who have read of every thing are thought to understand every thing too; but it is not always so. Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking makes what we read ours. We are of the ruminating kind, and it is not enough to cram ourselves with a great load of collections; unless we chew them over again, they will not give us strength and nourishment.
This is that which I think great readers are apt to be mistaken in. Those who have read of every thing are thought to understand every thing too; but it is not always so. Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking makes what we read ours. We are of the ruminating kind, and it is not enough to cram ourselves with a great load of collections; unless we chew them over again, they will not give us strength and nourishment.
Approximate author period: c. 1668 AD · renaissance
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- Author or tradition
- John Locke
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1668 AD · renaissance
Approximate author-period evidence for John Locke: life dates 1632 to 1704. Wikidata Q9353, inspected 2026-10-08. Not a quotation composition date or independent verification of attribution. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9353 (accessed 2026-10-08).
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 388970; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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