TRUE, a little learning is a dangerous thing, but it still beats total ignorance.

Van Buren’s quip plays off Alexander Pope’s famous warning that “a little learning is a dangerous thing,” conceding the risk of half-knowledge while insisting that some education is preferable to none. The humor comes from reversing the expected moral: rather than urging deeper study, it defends partial understanding as a practical improvement over ignorance. Implicitly, it also critiques elitist attitudes that dismiss beginners or non-experts; even imperfect knowledge can guide better choices, spark curiosity, and open the way to fuller learning. The line’s punchy antithesis (“little learning” vs. “total ignorance”) makes it a memorable, commonsense defense of incremental education.