the allegory of the cave and the love of wisdom

There is a sense in which what you are saying is absolutely true. Plato regarded knowledge for knowledge's sake as the highest good/activity of man. It is important to note, however, that the allegory of the cave is specifically about the knowledge of the eternal Forms. This distinction between the unchanging, eternal essence of the Forms and the constant flux of the cave's shadows is the main rub of the allegory.