“Anything you don't understand is dangerous until you do understand it.”

—  Larry Niven, book Flatlander

"Flatlander" (1967), first published in If (March 1967)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Anything you don't understand is dangerous until you do understand it." by Larry Niven?
Larry Niven photo
Larry Niven138
American writer 1938

Related quotes

Marvin Minsky photo

“You don't understand anything until you learn it more than one way.”

Marvin Minsky (1927–2016) American cognitive scientist

In Managing an Information Security and Privacy Awareness and Training Program (2005) by Rebecca Herold, p. 101

Chuck Palahniuk photo

“What you don't understand you can make mean anything.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Diary

Variant: What we don't understand we can make mean anything.
Source: Diary

Steven Novella photo

“… you don't realize whether or not you completely understand a topic until you are tasked to explain it to someone else. … That really challenges your understanding of a topic.”

Steven Novella (1964) American neurologist, skepticist

SGU, Podcast #170, October 22nd, 2008 http://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcast/sgu/170 <br class="br">The Skeptics&#x27; Guide to the Universe, Podcast, 2000s

Joe Strummer photo

“I'll tell you something. When you see you become part of the cycle of generations, you lose your ego in the process, because you ain't nothin' special. You're just another cipher in the generations. When you devote all your interest into another person, you lose your self-obsession, and that's when you understand what it is. You don't know (anything) without that moment. You don't want anything to harm this helpless being. That's a fantastic change. And that's when you understand what's happening. I never understood anything until my first baby looked at me. I didn't understand (anything). Now I understand.”

Joe Strummer (1952–2002) British musician, singer, actor and songwriter

Strummer on Man, God, Law and the Clash (31 January 1988)

Jeanette Winterson photo

“It is not possible to control the outside of yourself until you have mastered your breathing space. It is not possible to change anything until you understand the substance you wish to change.”

Jeanette Winterson book Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Source: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

“I don't understand it any more than you do, but one thing I've learned is that you don't have to understand things for them to be.”

Madeleine L'Engle book A Wrinkle in Time

Source: A Wrinkle in Time

Nikki Giovanni photo

“If you don't understand yourself you don't understand anybody else.”

Nikki Giovanni (1943) American writer and academic

Samuel Taylor Coleridge photo

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

Samuel Taylor Coleridge book Biographia Literaria

Source: Biographia Literaria (1817), Ch. XII

Related topics