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Full Idea
No man has seen certain truth, and no man will ever know about the gods and other things I mentioned; for if he succeeds in saying what is fully true, he himself is unaware of it; opinion is fixed by fate on all things.
Gist of Idea
If we succeed in speaking the truth, we cannot know we have done it
Source
Xenophanes (fragments/reports [c.530 BCE], B34), quoted by Sextus Empiricus - Against the Professors (six books) 7.49.4
Book Ref
'Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers', ed/tr. Freeman,Kathleen [Harvard 1957], p.24
| 1640 | The basic Eleatic belief was that all things are one [Xenophanes, by Plato] |
| 3055 | Xenophanes said the essence of God was spherical and utterly inhuman [Xenophanes, by Diog. Laertius] |
| 407 | Mortals believe gods are born, and have voices and clothes just like mortals [Xenophanes] |
| 408 | Ethiopian gods have black hair, and Thracian gods have red hair [Xenophanes] |
| 411 | If we succeed in speaking the truth, we cannot know we have done it [Xenophanes] |
| 412 | If God had not created honey, men would say figs are sweeter [Xenophanes] |