How Do We Know

1

HOW DO WE KNOW?

He who calls in the aid of an equal understanding, doubles his view; and he who profits of a superior understanding, raises his powers to a level with the height of the superior understanding he unites with.

—EDMUND BURKE

Edmund Burke (1729-97) here gives me reason enough for so frequently calling to my aid this great statesman and source of wisdom. He expertly counsels how understanding—knowledge—can be achieved.

All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.

—Juvenal

In my view, this Roman poet (60-140), over-assessed the citizens of Italy. Never in Italy or any other country, during the last twenty centuries, has everyone wished to possess knowledge. To many millions, ignorance is bliss; they are happy in their doldrums—“low spirits.”

However, this poet was absolutely right in asserting that few are willing to pay the price for knowledge. The price?

Real knowledge, like everything else of value, is not to be attained easily. It must be worked for, studied for, thought for, and more than all, must be prayed for.

—Thomas Arnold

If an individual fails to work for an ever-increasing understanding of ideas not yet known, he or she lapses into a stalemate—that is, a no-improvement—category. Asleep at the switch, as we say!

All growth depends on activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work. Work is not a curse; it is the prerogative of intelligence, the only means to manhood, and the measure of civilization.

—Calvin Coolidge

Everyone who pursues an improved understanding of how freedom works its wonders makes a contribution to a higher-grade civilization. More people than now must make freedom their lifelong study.

The man who has acquired the habit of study, though for only one hour every day in the year, and keeps to the one thing studied till it is mastered, will be startled to see the progress he has made at the end of a twelvemonth.

—Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Among the thousands of freedom devotees known to me, I am unaware of a single one who has mastered Creation at the human level, and it is my view that no mortal being ever will. Otherwise, this English novelist’s observation confirms my own, namely, the enormous advancement in an improved understanding of liberty made possible by daily study. These individuals attain an attractive status. Others seek their tutorship. This is the only way learning is advanced!

The English educator, Thomas Arnold (1795-1842), tells us that knowledge must be “worked for,” and “thought for.” And there is another “must,” namely, knowledge “must be prayed for.”

Prayer is not eloquence, but earnestness; not the definition of helplessness, but the feeling of it; not figures of speech, but earnestness of soul.

—Hannah More

“Eloquence” has two meanings: (1) the favorable kind: “articulate, fluent, smooth-spoken” and (2) “passionate, glib, silver-tongued, weak.” The English author, More, used “eloquence” in the derogatory sense, that is, as the opposite of “earnestness.” Those who are truly earnest in the pursuit of freedom more often than not find the means to such a glorious end. If not, they create their own means, and they succeed in their explanations.

Is not prayer a study of truth, a sally of the soul into the unfound infinite? No man ever prayed heartily without learning something.

—Emerson

The Sage of Concord stresses the word “heartily,” meaning “from the whole heart.” This is to be distinguished from prayers “repeated by rote”—the copycat variety—imitation. Let us every day of every year say our prayers for a return to freedom, and heartily.

I am often criticized—in a friendly way—for so copiously quoting those whose wisdom is far superior to mine, Edmund Burke, for instance. “Why don’t you confine yourself to your own thinking?” My reason? Most individuals do not have available to them such resources as are available to us at FEE. So why not share the wisdom of seers—those who have seen what most of us have not—with freedom aspirants!

Now to “How Do We Know?” that is, become more knowledgeable? Unquestionably, the first step is to become sharply aware of how little we know. The know-it-all is a know-nothing! The more we practice what we know, the more shall we know what to practice. If we have an awareness of how freedom works its miracles, we will, without question, become a freedom practitioner!

The above is consistent with Burke’s excellent knowledge, “He who calls in the aid of an equal understanding, doubles his view.”

In many things, it is not well to say, “know thyself”; it is better to say, “know others.”

—Menander

How to double our knowledge? Share and share alike!

To comprehend a man’s life it is necessary to know not merely what he does, but also what he purposely leaves undone. There is a limit to the work that can be got out of a human body or a human brain, and he is a wise man who wastes no energy on pursuits for which he is not fitted; and he is still wiser who, from among the things that he can do well, chooses and resolutely follows the best.

—Gladstone

Reflect on the countless pursuits for which each of us is “not fitted.” I, for instance, have no competence as an astronomer, a singer or composer of music, these three being among thousands of my incompetencies. Different people fall into different categories; some excel in several things, but no one excels in everything. Briefly, what any one person knows, compared to all knowledge, is infinitesimal. What we are ignorant of is beyond our powers of imagination! However, there are a goodly number of men and women whose highest aspiration is an improved understanding and explanation of freedom. Let us resolutely follow our best!

Wrote the author of a remarkable book, Human Destiny, Lecomte du Noüy: “To really participate in the Divine Task, man must place his ideals as high as possible, out of reach if necessary.” Liberty for one and all is, indeed, one of mankind’s highest ideals. Out of reach? No one does or ever has perfectly understood its miraculous potentialities. What to do? Study and discover the answer to this question: how do we know?