Famous quotes

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“He preached to himself, as Max Gottlieb had once preached to him, the loyalty of dissent, the faith of being very doubtful, the gospel of not bawling gospels, the wisdom of admitting the probable ignorance of one's self and of everybody else, and the energetic acceleration of a Movement for going very slow. ~ Ch 21”
Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Science is the most real guide for civilisation, for life, for success in the world. To search for a guide other than science is absurdity, ignorance and heresy.”
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938) said by 1938 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Atatürkçülük, Volume I, General Staff of the Republic of Turkey, Millî Eğitim Basımevi, 1984, p. 283
“From the union of power and money, from the union of power and secrecy, from the union of government and science, from the union of government and art, from the union of science and money, from the union of ambition and ignorance, from the union of genius and war, from the union of outer space and inner vacuity, the Mad Farmer walks quietly away.”
Wendell Berry (1934–2026) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Mad Farmer, Flying the Flag of Rough Branch, Secedes from the Union" in Entries (1997)
“Le secret de la liberté est d'éclairer les hommes, comme celui de la tyrannie est de les retenir dans l'ignorance”
Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) first seen 1792 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Public statement (November 1792), quoted in Oeuvres de Maximilien Robespierre (1840), Volume 2, p. 253
“England! Ha! What good are they to you, England and its depraved constitution, which may have looked free to you when you had sunk to the lowest degree of servitude, but which it is high time to stop praising out of ignorance or habit!”
Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) said by 1794 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Delusion will vanish as the light becomes more and more effulgent, load after load of ignorance will vanish, and then will come a time when all else has disappeared and the sun alone shines.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Desire, ignorance, and inequality—this is the trinity of bondage.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If there is one word that you find coming out like a bomb from the Upanishads, bursting like a bombshell upon masses of ignorance, it is the word “fearlessness.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We believe that every being is divine, is God. Every soul is a sun covered over with clouds of ignorance; the difference between soul and soul is owing to the difference in density of these layers of clouds.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our single greatest defense against scientific ignorance is education, and early in the life of every scientist, the child's first interest was sparked by a teacher.”
Peter Agre (born 1949) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Peter Agre's speech at the Nobel Banquet, December 10, 2003
“Part of our job, together, is to work to reject such extremism that infects too many of our young people. Part of that effort must be a continued rejection by Muslims of those who distort Islam to preach intolerance and promote violence, and it must also a rejection by non-Muslims of the ignorance that equates Islam with terror.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by President Obama to the United Nations General Assembly (September 28, 2015)
“Religion is bound up in the difference between the sense of ignorance and the sense of mystery: the former means, "I know not"; the latter means "I know not; but it is known.”
William Ernest Hocking (1873–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A political system seeking to function amongst ignorant, illiterate and barbaric people could have marvelous principles but could only succeed in being ignorant, illiterate and barbaric unless one addressed the people one by one and cured the ignorance, illiteracy and barbarism of each citizen.”
L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Politics" (February 13, 1965).
“Ignorance alone stands in the way of socialist success. The capitalist parties understand this and use their resources to prevent the workers from seeing the light. Intellectual darkness is essential to industrial slavery.”
Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) said by 1926 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We live in the capitalist system, so-called because its dominated by the capitalist class. In this system the capitalists are the rulers and the workers the subjects. The capitalists are in a decided minority and yet they rule because of the ignorance of the working class.”
Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) said by 1926 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The only war America wants to fight is war against poverty, hunger, ignorance, and disease. It's the only war mankind can win.”
Walter Reuther (1907–1970) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Text of interview with Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev, San Francisco, California, September 20, 1959, as quoted in Walter P Reuther: Selected Papers (1961), by Henry M. Christman, p. 302
“Forts, arsenals, garrisons, armies, navies, are means of security and defence, which were invented in half-civilized times and in feudal or despotic countries; but schoolhouses are the republican line of fortifications, and if they are dismantled and dilapidated, ignorance and vice will pour in their legions through every breach.”
Horace Mann (1796–1859) first seen 1841 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Common School Journal, Vol. III, No. 17 (1 September 1841)
“I am very worried that most Americans are close to total ignorance about the world. They are ignorant. That is an unhealthy condition in a country in which foreign policy has to be endorsed by the people if it is to be pursued. And it makes it much more difficult for any president to pursue an intelligent policy that does justice to the complexity of the world.”
Zbigniew Brzezinski (1928–2017) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Spokespersons of US Right 'In Most Cases Stunningly Ignorant, Interview in Der Spiegel, December 6, 2010.
“Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.”
Margaret Atwood (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The denser the ignorance, the more enlightened it thinks itself to be.”
Henri de Lubac (1896–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A temporary evolution of ignorance, a period when our insistence on looking in certain directions leaves us unable to see what is right under our noses, may be the price of progress, an inevitable part of what happens when we try to make sense of the world's complexity.”
Paul Krugman (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance.”
John Rawls (1921–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A play is made by sensing how the forces in life simulate ignorance — you set free the concealed irony, the deadly joke.”
Arthur Miller (1915–2005) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The State of the Theatre" an interview by Henry Brandon in Harpers 221 (November 1960)
“A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud — God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!”
Arthur Miller (1915–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Russia stuff, the lies, the bullying, the ignorance, the bullshit. Look, I know I'm not going to be here much longer. But I'd like to think that even if that weren't the case, I would have enough self-respect not to kiss his ass like this.”
John McCain (1936–2018) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Trump, as quoted in John McCain, dying of cancer, expressed hope that he would have 'enough self-respect not to kiss' Trump's 'ass' like some of his GOP colleagues: book (December 2017)
“He [Goya] has selected from amongst the innumerable foibles and follies to be found in any civilized society, and from the common prejudices and deceitful practices which custom, ignorance or self-interest have made usual..”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) said by 1828 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“C++ is a language strongly optimized for liars and people who go by guesswork and ignorance.”
Erik Naggum (1965–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Rewarding incompetence and ignorance increases the number of incompetent programmers. Designing programming languages and tools so incompetent programmers can feel better about themselves is not the way to go.”
Erik Naggum (1965–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ignorance is a kind of insanity in the human animal. People who delight in torturing defenseless children or tiny creatures are in reality insane. The terrible thing is that people who are madmen in private may wear a totally bland and innocent expression in public.”
Akira Kurosawa (1910–1998) first seen 1981 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Akira Kurosawa Something Like an Autobiography (1981)
“In the form of the oeuvre, the actual circumstances are placed in another dimension where the given reality shows itself as that which it is. Thus it tells the truth about itself; its language ceases to be that of deception, ignorance, and submission. Fiction calls the facts by their name and their reign collapses; fiction subverts everyday experience and shows it to be mutilated and false.”
Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979) said by 1979 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Reason … contradicts the established order of men and things on behalf of existing societal forces that reveal the irrational character of this order — for “rational” is a mode of thought and action which is geared to reduce ignorance, destruction, brutality, and oppression.”
Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979) said by 1979 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I count religion but a childish toy, And hold there is no sin but ignorance.”
Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593) said by 1593 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Since [Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S.], I have acquired new wisdom ...or, to put it more critically, have discarded old ignorance”
Antonin Scalia (1936–2016) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Admitting fallibility: Concurring in Ring v. Arizona 536 U.S. 584 (2002).
“(on the perceived need for cautious political development): "We are the High Chiefs of these islands. We are the leaders of the people. On us is the duty of pointing out to them the right course. Bear this in mind. We have to lead on two points- hold back those who advocate radical changes (for which we are not sufficiently educated) and enliven the laggards before their ignorance destroys us".”
Lala Sukuna (1888–1958) said by 1958 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some men have become so sick that they try to push themselves in a sexual way into a baby, splitting them. Fathers are sexually abusing their daughters, along with uncles, brothers, cousins and even aunts; and now the lesbian craze is in. We are so undervalued because of our ignorance and lack of the potential for honor and respect.”
Louis Farrakhan (born 1933) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To speak the unspeakable without the proper rhetorical flourish or introduction; to muff that flourish, either by accident, misjudgment, or simple ignorance; to choose the wrong flourish or not choose any (i.e., to choose the flourish called "the literal") is to perform the unspeakable.”
Samuel R. Delany (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If everything, everything were known, statistical estimates would be unnecessary. The science of probability gives mathematical expression to our ignorance, not to our wisdom.”
Samuel R. Delany (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All you are seeing is your own nostalgia for your girlhood trips up here into the hills, which were no doubt colored with the pleasantries of youth and idealism, which is—won’t you admit it?—finally just a form of ignorance.”
Samuel R. Delany (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But as soon as any of us dies, there is only the monster left. What I had been pursuing was not Belham but the monster called Belham. And what my whole journey had taught me was precisely what sort of monster it was: it was made, as all such monsters are, of contradiction, supposition, miscalculation, impossibility, and ignorance.”
Samuel R. Delany (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No tool is more beneficial than intelligence. No enemy is more harmful than ignorance.”
Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid (948–1022) said by 1022 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Book of Guidance into the Lives of the Twelve Imams, 1981, "The Life of the Commander of the Faithful" (I. K. A. Howard (tr.)).
“I have made it a rule to adopt the method of ignorance in my investigations into instincts. I read very little. ... I know nothing. So much the better : my queries will be all the freer, now in this direction, now in the opposite, according to the lights obtained.”
Jean Henri Fabre (1823–1915) said by 1915 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Injustice, poverty, slavery, ignorance — these may be cured by reform or revolution. But men do not live only by fighting evils. They live by positive goals, individual and collective, a vast variety of them, seldom predictable, at times incompatible.”
Isaiah Berlin (1909–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fortunately science, like that nature to which it belongs, is neither limited by time nor by space. It belongs to the world, and is of no country and of no age. The more we know, the more we feel our ignorance; the more we feel how much remains unknown; and in philosophy, the sentiment of the Macedonian hero can never apply, — there are always new worlds to conquer.”
Humphry Davy (1778–1829) first seen 1825 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Discourse Delivered at the Royal Society (30 November 1825), published in Six Discourses delivered before the Royal Society, at their Anniversary Meetings, on the Award of the Royal and Copley Medals, preceded by an Add…
“Ignorance in certain places frightens me. The political situation of the world frightens me. Political anger around the globe frightens me. The lack of love in the world frightens me. Violence frightens me.”
Salma Hayek (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When the tail of the tadpole drops off, it can live both in water and on land. When the tail of ignorance drops off, man becomes free. He can then live both in God and in the world equally well.”
Ramakrishna (1836–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You see many stars in the sky at night, but not when the sun rises. Can you therefore say that there are no stars in the heavens during the day? O man, because you cannot find God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God. (Sutra 1)”
Ramakrishna (1836–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When the tail of the tadpole drops off, it can live both in water and on land. When the tail of delusive ignorance drops off from man, he becomes free. He can then live in God and the world equally well. (955)”
Ramakrishna (1836–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We've tried ignorance for a thousand years. It's time we try education.”
Joycelyn Elders (born 1933) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, "Abstinence" [4.10], 5 June 2006
“Irrespective of doubts and convictions, and for the Infinite Love I bear for one and all, I continue to come as the Avatar, to be judged time and again by humanity in its ignorance, in order to help man distinguish the Real from the false.”
Meher Baba (1894–1969) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The God-Man : The Life, Journeys and Work of Meher Baba with an Interpretation of His Silence and Spiritual Teaching (1964) by Charles Benjamin Purdom, p. 171.
“The divine Ego, as the basis of Eternal Existence, continually expresses itself; but shrouded in the veil of ignorance, man misconstrues his Indivisible Ego and experiences and expresses it as the limited, separate ego.”
Meher Baba (1894–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source