Q0578
“Knowledge is not perfected by learning alone; it is perfected when it…” — Al-Ghazali (The Revival of the Religious Sciences…)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ). Theme: knowledge.
English
Knowledge is not perfected by learning alone; it is perfected when it becomes a state that moves the limbs to action.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ) and files it under Islamic Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Al-Ghazali
Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (1058–1111) taught law and theology in Baghdad before a crisis of certainty drove him from public office into Sufi practice and writing. He mastered the falāsifa well enough to attack their metaphysics in The Incoherence of the Philosophers, then narrated his own epistemic itinerary in Deliverance from Error.
How to read this passage
Epistemology asks whether knowledge is justified true belief, reliable tracking of the world, or something else; it also asks how perception, testimony, memory, and reason contribute. This passage enters that discussion through knowledge, cultivation, practice.
Concepts in this quote
- Knowledge
- Knowledge is the philosophical study of what we can justifiably claim to know—and where certainty ends.
- Cultivation
- Cultivation appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat cultivation as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
- Practice
- Practice is where thought becomes habit: philosophy as a way of living, training, and repeated action.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Al-Ghazali. (n.d.). Knowledge is not perfected by learning alone; it is perfected when it becomes a state that moves the limbs to action. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0578
MLA: Al-Ghazali. “Knowledge is not perfected by learning alone; it….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0578.
Chicago: Al-Ghazali. “Knowledge is not perfected by learning alone; it….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0578.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “Knowledge is not perfected by learning alone; it…”?
The passage is attributed to Al-Ghazali, The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ). The archive attributes this English wording to The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ) and files it under Islamic Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Al-Ghazali mean by knowledge?
Epistemology asks whether knowledge is justified true belief, reliable tracking of the world, or something else; it also asks how perception, testimony, memory, and reason contribute. This passage enters that discussion through knowledge, cultivation, practice.