Raiders of the Lost Ark Wisdom and Knowledge Quotes

We're inclined to be a little easy on Indy here, since "Basics of the Hovitos Language" is rarely taught down at the local college. But it's hard to deny that a little book-learning would have come in very handy.

Here we have a bit of street smarts on display: the sort of thing you can only learn by getting out there and grappling with life. The irony of this line is that Indy delivers it in the classroom, where knowledge comes in convenient books and the occasional cribbed test from that smart guy who lives down the hall.

Indy delivers a rather elegant merging of his two types of knowledge: He's only read about the map room in a book, since it hasn't been uncovered for thousands of years. But in order to learn its secrets, he's got to get out of the library and actually find the thing.

Belloq doesn't reveal his hand very often, but when he does, it speaks volumes about who he is. He doesn't see the Ark as a paycheck, but as a way of increasing his knowledge. They don't get much smarter than God, after all, and Belloq is clearly very interested in hearing what The Almighty has to say. (That will change.) Contrast that with Indy, who seems less interested in the Ark's abilities and more on getting it back to collect dust in a museum.

A little lesson for the ADD among us: always read to the end of the sentence. It may hold something important.

Contrast this with Quote #7. Belloq is frustrated because he can't find the Ark, but rather than admitting that he doesn't know what he needs to, he complains about how it "should have been" correct. Intellectual arrogance is thoroughly unbecoming, even in a fiendish villain.

The fool is the man who thinks himself wise, while the wise man knows that he is a fool. If Indy gains wisdom on his adventures (and what self-respecting Campbellian hero doesn't?), then this must be the first real sign of it: the fact that he doesn't have the first idea what he's doing.

If Dietrich had done any reading, he'd know that you have to use a Jewish ritual to open the Ark, and you'd better have your karmic ducks in a row when you do. His ignorance sets him apart from Indy and Belloq, making him just a thug in a uniform rather than a worthy adversary. Nazis had a lot of "scientific" knowledge based on racist and hate-based beliefs.

In a weird way, this echoes Indy's earlier "I'm making this up as I go" line. He's wise enough to understand when knowledge has to take a back seat—he has to close his eyes rather than see what the Ark has to show him—and has the humility (wisdom) to accept it rather than fighting it. It's God after all; you kind of have to go with the flow.