top of page
Ignorance Quotes


"Ignorance has always been the weapon of tyrants; enlightenment the salvation of the free."


"A person must have a certain amount of intelligent ignorance to get anywhere."


"Israel of the coastal plain, where eight out of ten Israeli Jews live far removed from the occupied territories, from the fiery Jerusalem, from the religious and nationalistic conflicts, is unknown to the outside world, almost unknown to itself."


"Ah! destructive Ignorance, what shall be done to chase thee out of the World!"


"The darkest thing about Africa has always been our ignorance of it."



"Until you understand a writer's ignorance, presume yourself ignorant of his understanding."


"To know anything well involves a profound sensation of ignorance."


"Owing to ignorance of the rope the rope appears to be a snake; owing to ignorance of the Self the transient state arises of the individualized, limited, phenomenal aspect of the Self."


"Our lives are universally shortened by our ignorance."


"The more we study the more we discover our ignorance."


"Ignorance and superstition ever bear a close and mathematical relation to each other."



"Ignorance is the primary source of all misery and vice."


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



"Ignorance is not bliss, but in my case, that was."


"A little learning is a dangerous thing, but a lot of ignorance is just as bad."


"It is fortunate that each generation does not comprehend its own ignorance. We are thus enabled to call our ancestors barbarous."


"So the paradox goes: No man who is really ignorant is ever aware that he is ignorant. That is its finest, most faulty manifestation; there can be no true ignorance without first some claim of intelligence or consciousness, or superiority or enlightenment."



"Now, ignorance is one thing, ignorance can be cured. But many of the Republican leaders opposing this research know better."


"We are born knowing nothing and with much striving we learn but a little; yet all the while we are bound by laws that hearken to no plea of ignorance, and measure out their rewards and punishments with calm indifference."


"Statistics: the mathematical theory of ignorance."


"A straight face is an ignorant man's attempt to appear knowledgeable."


"Some social ills are preserved by the common misbelief that things such as ignorance, greed, and stupidity do not have the stamina required to reach old age."


"To be naive is to be unaware of how stupid and cruel other people are; but, by some definitions, ignorance is nearly the opposite of naivety in being a kind of cynicism, in being unaware of their intelligence and humanity. It seems to be a normal although unfortunate case that the great many of us consciously abhor ignorance in others yet subconsciously practice it ourselves: as naivety is apparent and well-known to inflict its damage upon oneself; whereas the alternative and the easier, ignorance, its damage upon others."


"The less people know, the more stubbornly they know it."


"Learning, n. The kind of ignorance distinguishing the studious."


"Until ignorance, of one's own Self (the Soul), is removed, illusory attachment (moha) will not go away."


"The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind."
bottom of page