A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing
Essay No. 01
One must possess sufficient knowledge about his respective field. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. A doctor who does not have enough knowledge about medicines could lead patients to death by giving them the wrong medicine. A technician who does not have enough knowledge about the repair of electrical types of equipment could damage them further and spoil the functioning of the machine. The mother who does not know how to take care of the child may land up making the life of the child miserable through her wrong decisions. For instance, she may give two tablets instead of one to the child and lead him to the death bed.
A person who has little knowledge should not take independent decisions. He must consult a knowledgeable person before taking any decision. A less knowledgeable person takes irrational decisions and creates miseries in the lives of everybody. Therefore, people must not rely on the decisions of persons with less knowledge because ‘Little knowledge is a dangerous thing’.
Essay No. 02
A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing
Nature has bestowed man with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. It’s the result of this eagerness to know that we are enjoying so many boons of the science of the present. But this urge to explore and to know more is usually hampered by our laziness and feeling of self-sufficiency. Knowledge is desirable and should be achieved at any cost. But a little knowledge is certainly as good as having no knowledge. People with little knowledge keep parading their knowledge. But a real knowledgeable man needs no praise and superficiality. Although it’s a common practice nowadays, to create much ado about nothing, yet we should always keep in mind that they are the empty vessels which make much noise. Minds full of knowledge never try to show off. A little knowledge is indeed a dangerous thing if it is accompanied by self-complacence. But if it’s tinged with a desire to learn more, then man can attain higher achievements, and then even the sky will be no limit.
A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing
Essay No. 03
- The young chemist.
- The man who doctored himself.
- A little knowledge puffs a man up: great knowledge makes him humble.
A boy in our school took chemistry as one of his subjects. When he had read one simple textbook and had worked in the laboratory a few weeks, he thought he knew as much as, or even more than, the chemistry master himself. So he asked the master one day to be allowed to work with some chemicals in the laboratory after school hours. The master was very pleased to find a boy so interested in his subject and gave him a few chemicals to work with. He messed about with these for a while, and then there was a big explosion, and he was badly burnt and nearly set the place on fire. He found out that a little knowledge was a dangerous thing.
A man I knew used to be very fond of reading books on medicine. And at last, he thought he knew more than the doctors themselves; and if he was ill, he used to look up his books, and buy medicines and treat himself. One time he fell ill and had a low fever every day. Some said he had better send for the doctor. “Nonsense,” he said, “doctors are no use. I know as much as they do. I see by my books that I have a touch of malarial fever, and am taking large doses of quinine.” However, he got worse, and in the end, nearly died. For when the doctor came, he found he had an abscess of the liver, and the operation was only just in time to save his life. When he got better, he was “a sadder and a wiser man”, and had learnt that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
A little knowledge is dangerous because it often makes us conceited. When we first begin to study a subject, it seems easy; and as we find we know more about it than some other people who know nothing at all, we get puffed up and think we know a lot. We talk a lot about it, and use a few learned words we have learnt, and imagine we are great scholars. Then one of two things happens. Either we stop studying because we think we know enough; or, if we go deeper into the subject, we get disgusted because it is difficult, and give it up. A really learned man is humble about his knowledge because he finds that the more he knows, the more there is to know.
