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Who really said it

He who knows not, and knows not he knows not, is a fool; shun him. He who knows not, and knows he knows not, is simple; teach him. He who knows, and knows not he knows, is asleep; awaken him. He who knows, and knows he knows, is wise; follow him

Not Bruce Lee — an anonymous 19th-century proverb An anonymous proverb (documented as an “Arabic” / Oriental saying) Full four-part English version in print by 1885 · three-part precursor by 1866
Disputed Free to reuse

There is no evidence Bruce Lee ever used this line. As Quote Investigator ↗ documents, the complete four-part “knows / knows not” saying was already printed as an “Arabic proverb” in The Globe of Toronto in 1885 — decades before Lee was born in 1940. Lee’s name was only attached to it much later, appearing on Goodreads by 2017.

Last verified 8 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“He who knows not, and knows not he knows not, is a fool; shun him. He who knows not, and knows he knows not, is simple; teach him. He who knows, and knows not he knows, is asleep; awaken him. He who knows, and knows he knows, is wise; follow him” Anonymous proverb (in print as an “Arabic proverb” by 1885) — not Bruce Lee, per Quote Investigator.

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Bruce Lee. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

Free to use, including in commercial and paid presentations — no permission or licence needed.

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In context

Evoking the themes of wisdom, knowledge and humility. Theme: "He who knows not, and knows not he knows not, is a fool; shun him. He who knows not, and knows he knows not, is simple; teach him. He who knows, and knows not he knows, is asleep; awaken him. He who knows, and knows he knows, is wise; follow him". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "He who knows not, and knows not he knows not, is a fool; shun him. He who knows not, and knows he knows not, is simple; teach him. He who knows, and knows not he knows, is asleep; awaken him. He who knows, and knows he knows, is wise; follow him". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

An anonymous proverb, not a Bruce Lee quotation

Kind
Anonymous proverb (called Arabic, Persian & Chinese)
Earliest full version
“A Knowsy Proverb,” The Globe (Toronto), 1885
Precursor
Three-part “Oriental maxim,” 1866
Credited to Bruce Lee
Only from c. 2017 (Goodreads); no primary source

He who knows not, and knows not he knows not. He is a fool; shun him. He who knows not, and knows he knows not. He is simple; teach him. He who knows, and knows not he knows. He is asleep; wake him. He who knows, and knows he knows. He is wise; follow him. 1885 — printed as an “Arabic proverb”

The 1885 The Globe (Toronto) text, printed as an “Arabic proverb.” The version circulated under Bruce Lee’s name is a lightly re-punctuated form of this same saying.

Quote Investigator: full chronology of the saying

How the saying is documented

  • A three-part precursor — “if a man does not know, and does not know that he does not know” — appears as an “Oriental maxim” by 1866, per Quote Investigator ↗.
  • The complete four-part version was printed as an “Arabic proverb” in The Globe of Toronto in 1885, and appeared in Isabel Burton’s 1893 biography of Richard Francis Burton as an “Arab Proverb,” per Quote Investigator ↗.
  • Quote Investigator ↗ found “no substantive evidence that Bruce Lee… employed this expression”; his name appears attached to it only by 2017 on Goodreads ↗, where it is also filed under “Persian Proverb.”
Public domain

The wording is an anonymous proverb whose full four-part English form is documented in print by 1885 (The Globe, Toronto) — well before 1931 — so the text is in the public domain in the United States. No individual author or estate holds rights to it.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

A proverb with many false owners

This is a classic “floating” proverb: because no one can name its true author, it gets re-assigned to whoever sounds plausible. Bruce Lee is only the latest name attached to it.

Bruce Lee No evidence

Quote Investigator ↗ found “no substantive evidence that Bruce Lee… employed this expression.” His name appears attached to it only by 2017, on Goodreads — decades after his death and a century after the saying was already in print.

Confucius, Lady Isabel Burton, and “Persian / Chinese proverb”

The same lines circulate under many labels — Arabic, Persian, and Chinese proverb, and even Confucius — per Quote Investigator ↗. None is documented as the original source; they reflect the saying’s wandering, anonymous history.

The honest answer: it is an anonymous proverb whose full English form was in print by 1885, not a Bruce Lee quotation, per Quote Investigator ↗.

Context

Why it gets pinned on Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee (1940–1973) is one of the internet’s great quote magnets: crisp, aphoristic wisdom about self-mastery gets attached to his name because it sounds like him. This four-part saying about knowing and not-knowing fits that mold perfectly — but it predates him by more than half a century.

The saying is genuinely old and genuinely anonymous. What the record shows is a proverb that drifted across cultures and attributions for over a century before Lee’s name was ever attached to it around 2017.

In print as an “Arabic proverb” in 1885 — before Bruce Lee was born.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Wisdom Knowledge Humility

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigator — “He Who Knows, and Knows Not He Knows, Is Asleep”quoteinvestigator.com

The authoritative investigation: traces the saying to 1800s proverb collections and debunks the Bruce Lee credit.
Bruce Lee tagquoteinvestigator.com

Quote Investigator’s index of sayings misattributed to Bruce Lee.
Goodreads — filed under “Persian Proverb”goodreads.com

Shows the same saying circulating under a different (also unsourced) attribution.
Isabel Burton, The Life of Captain Sir Richd. F. Burton (1893)archive.org

1893 biography that prints the four-part saying as an “Arab Proverb.”
List of Proverbs entrylistofproverbs.com

Documents the saying circulating as a “Persian Proverb,” illustrating its floating attribution.

The real source

A wandering proverb with no single author

An anonymous proverb

Full four-part English version in print by 1885 · variously called an Arabic, Persian & Chinese proverb

This is a traditional proverb, not a line from any identified writer. Its English form built up over the 1800s: a three-part “Oriental maxim” circulated by 1866, and the complete four-part “knows / knows not” ladder appeared as an “Arabic proverb” by 1885. Over the years it has been labelled Arabic, Persian, Chinese and Confucian, and — most recently and just as baselessly — pinned on Bruce Lee.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Quote Investigator

“A Knowsy Proverb” [printed as an Arabic proverb], The Globe (Toronto), 15 December 1885, p. 6, col. 3; earliest full four-part version traced in Garson O’Toole, “He Who Knows, and Knows Not He Knows, Is Asleep; Awaken Him,” Quote Investigator, 24 September 2021.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘He who knows not, and knows not he knows not, is a fool; shun him. He who knows not, and knows he knows not, is simple; teach him. He who knows, and knows not he knows, is asleep; awaken him. He who knows, and knows he knows, is wise; follow him’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/he-who-knows-not-and-knows-not-he-knows-not-is-a-fool-shun/

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