What does the following verse mean? proverbs 1: 7: the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The foundation, or staring point , of all knowledge is the fear of God. We will not have a right understanding of anything without first learning the fear of God. 

The idea of fearing God may bother some people because it does not sound much like love. But it should make sense that a father be both respected and loved at the same time. in a similar way, the perspectives of love and fear towards God are not contradictory but complementary. 

Moreover, there is no way that anyone will love God for the love He demonstrated at the cross unless he has first come face-to-face with the magnitude of his own sins against our Creator. It was our sin that drove those nails into the hands and feet of God's only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Even the atonement of Christ is meaningless to anyone who does not first fear the God who brings severe punishment upon those who violate his law. If one does not fear God first, he will never love God.