The Difficulty of Knowledge:

Only those who have experience of a thing or an event can say that they know it to be a fact.

Conversely, those who have experience of said facts are often prone to interpreting them incorrectly due to inner prejudice gained by previous experiences

The intellect is not in the position of proving a fact, as its function is only to combine and systematize facts once they are experienced.

For example; without the experiencing of a penguin, directly or indirectly, it cannot prove that penguins exist.

Experience therefore is an absolute necessity when it comes to the gathering of facts. Yet our previous experiences can also cloud our judgement and hinder us from understanding our experiences in the right way.

The attainment of truth is a deeply personal, intimate struggle.

“Truth is no harlot who throws her arms round the neck of him who does not desire her; on the contrary, she is so coy a beauty that even the man who sacrifices everything to her can still not be certain of her favors.”

- Arthur Schopenhauer