“a smattering of everything, and a knowledge of nothing”

“A perceptive French critic has argued that in an age of deepening illiteracy, when even the educated have only a smattering of classical or theological knowledge, erudition is of itself a kind of fantasy, a surrealistic construct.”

“Success, however, does nothing to diminish the knowledge that failure stalks everything you do. ”

“To believe in nothing is as ridiculous as to believe in everything. Reason and factual evidence may convert a belief into knowledge.”

“You can't just add a smattering of verses to a humanistic worldview.”

“The only way we could remember would be by constant re-reading, for knowledge unused tends to drop out of mind. Knowledge used does not need to be remembered; practice forms habits and habits make memory unnecessary. The rule is nothing; the application is everything.”