better to be a blockhead . . .

Those who think themselves wise and holy are rarely humble enough to allow others to guide them. It is better to be blockhead and a numskull, and to be humble about it, than to possess encyclopedic knowledge and be filled with self conceit. Better to have little than much, if much is going to make you proud. (The Imitation of Christ, Bk. 3, ch. 7)