What one knows is, in youth, of little moment; they know enough who know how to learn.

The line contrasts the mere possession of facts with the more durable capacity to acquire them. Adams suggests that in youth, what one already “knows” matters less than cultivating the habits and methods of learning—curiosity, discipline, and adaptability. The aphorism implies that knowledge quickly becomes outdated or proves insufficient when circumstances change, whereas learning how to learn equips a person for lifelong growth. It also carries a quiet critique of education that prizes memorization or early achievement over intellectual self-direction, implying that the true measure of readiness is not a storehouse of information but an active, resilient mind.