To be ignorant is not the special prerogative of man; to know that he is ignorant is his special privilege.
— Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanEminent Indians (1947)
Use itEssay: awareness of one's ignorance is the start of wisdom.
Quotes / Thinkers / Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Thinker · 9 quotes
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan quotes for UPSC
9 sourced quotes by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on religion, tolerance & secularism, education & knowledge, science, technology & innovation, history & civilisation, culture, art & literature, with a use case for each in GS4, Essay and interviews.
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Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5 September is observed as Teachers' Day.
— Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanHis suggestion to the students who wanted to commemorate his birthday in: Rupal Jain How to be a Good Teacher, Pustak Mahal, p.138
Use itInterview: origin of Teachers' Day; honouring teachers over personal celebration.
We invent by intuition, though we prove by logic.
— Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanEminent Indians (1947)
Use itEssay on innovation: intuition discovers, logic verifies.
The insight does not arise if we are not familiar with the facts of the case... The successful practice of intuition requires previous study and assimilation of a multitude of facts and laws. We may take it that great intuitions arise out of a matrix of rationality.
— Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanInternet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Use itEssay on innovation: breakthrough insights need deep prior study of facts.
We become more religious in proportion to our readiness to doubt and not our willingness to believe.
— Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanEminent Indians (1947)
Use itEssay on faith and reason: genuine religiosity grows with readiness to doubt.
Hinduism is not a sect but a fellowship of all who accept the law of right and earnestly seek for the truth.
Use itEssay on Indian tolerance: religion as fellowship of truth-seekers, not a sect.
While no tradition coincides with experience, every tradition is essentially unique and valuable. While all traditions are of value, none is finally binding.
— Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanInternet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Use itEssay on pluralism: every tradition valuable, none finally binding.
It takes centuries to make a little history; it takes centuries of history to make a tradition.
— Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanEminent Indians (1947)
Use itEssay on heritage: traditions take centuries to form; preserve them.
Technique without inspiration, is barren. Intellectual powers, sense facts and imaginative fancies may result in clever verses, repetition of old themes, but they are only manufactured poetry. It is not simply a difference of quality but a difference of kind in the source itself.
— Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanInternet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Use itEssay on creativity: technique without inspiration produces barren art.