"Now it is too late. Go back and tell the oracle that now I am the most ignorant man on earth.

"'When I was younger and full of ego, I was also of the same opinion as the oracle – that I knew – because the 'I' was so strong, it couldn't conceive that the ultimate mystery could not be known. The 'I' was so strong that I could not think that it was possible for me to be ignorant. Everything that was, was conceived by me as known, or at least as knowable. But as I grew in knowledge, in understanding, I became more and more aware of my ignorance. So now go back and tell the oracle that Socrates himself says that he is simply ignorant, that he doesn't know anything.'

"The people returned. They said to the oracle, 'Socrates refuses to accept what you say, and when he himself refuses it means something. He says he is the most ignorant man.'

"The oracle laughed and said, 'That is why I have declared him to be the most wise man, because only the most wise can know that he is ignorant.'

"This is the paradox: those who are ignorant, they always think they know. This is part of ignorance. To think that you know is part of ignorance; it comes from ignorance. If you are ignorant you will think that you know much. The more ignorant, the more you will think that you know much. Ignorance is filled with knowledge. Ignorance, really, lives on knowledge, feeds on knowledge. The wiser you become, the more aware and understanding, the more you will feel how ignorant you are. And a moment comes when you feel that you do not know anything. Simply, you are ignorant. All the burden of knowledge is thrown away. There is no heaviness of knowledge on you. You have become so weightless that you can fly. Knowledge is a burden.

"When you feel that you do not know, ego disappears; it cannot exist. It can exist only with knowledge. Really, whenever you claim knowledge, it is a claim by the ego: 'I know.' The emphasis is not on knowing, the emphasis is on I."