Is it possible to know too much? According to Leo Tolstoy (regarded as one of the greatest writers of all time), “It is better to know a few good and necessary things than many useless and mediocre things.” Basic knowledge is necessary to be a human being; until a person has acquired this knowledge, all other knowledge is harmful, stressed Tolstoy.

In A Calendar of Wisdom, Tolstoy wrote, "It is better to know several basic rules of life than to study many unnecessary sciences." [...]

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