“Religion is a conceited effort to deny the most obvious realities.”
H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) American journalist and writer
“The most ignorant are the most conceited.”
Lecture 6
Lectures on Education (1855)
Context: The most ignorant are the most conceited. Unless a man knows that there is something more to be known, his inference is, of course, that he knows every thing. Such a man always usurps the throne of universal knowledge, and assumes the right of deciding all possible questions. We all know that a conceited dunce will decide questions extemporaneous which would puzzle a college of philosophers, or a bench of judges. Ignorant and shallow-minded men do not see far enough to see the difficulty. But let a man know that there are things to be known, of which he is ignorant, and it is so much carved out of his domain of universal knowledge. And for all purposes of individual character, as well as of social usefulness, it is quite as important for a man to know the extent of his own ignorance as it is to know any thing else. To know how much there is that we do not know, is one of the most valuable parts of our attainments; for such knowledge becomes both a lesson of humility and a stimulus to exertion.
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Horace Mann67
American politician 1796–1859Related quotes
“Most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people.”
Adrian Mitchell (1932–2008) British writer
Poems (1964), Preface.
“The cultured is curious. The ignorant, arrogant and conceited.”
Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer
Original: Il colto è curioso. L'ignorante, arrogante e presuntuoso.
Source: prevale.net
“Sophistry is only fit to make men more conceited in their ignorance.”
John Locke (1632–1704) English philosopher and physician
“The most violent element in society is ignorance.”
Emma Goldman (1868–1940) anarchist known for her political activism, writing, and speeches
Variant: The most unpardonable sin in society is independence of thought.
Thomas Paine (1737–1809) English and American political activist
Earliest citation to Paine appears to be in "Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism Vol. XXIV" https://books.google.com/books?id=ITYfh67DKncC&pg=RA11-PA33&lpg=RA11-PA33&dq=The+trade+of+governing+has+always+been+monopolized+by+the+most+ignorant+and+the+most+rascally+individuals+of+mankind.&source=bl&ots=8DHXw2Ix1C&sig=ACfU3U3Bk_9QoyDZh_LDcoEB83cEaDWTcQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjp3I6MqOXxAhW2KVkFHfEsDb0Q6AEwBXoECBEQAw#v=onepage&q=The%20trade%20of%20governing%20has%20always%20been%20monopolized%20by%20the%20most%20ignorant%20and%20the%20most%20rascally%20individuals%20of%20mankind.&f=false. Not found in any of his works. <br class="br">Misattributed
“Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.”
Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet
A literatura é a maneira mais agradável de ignorar a vida.
Variant: To write is to forget. Literature is the pleasantest way of ignoring life.
Source: The Book of Disquietude, trans. Richard Zenith, text 116
“Books and ideas are the most effective weapons against intolerance and ignorance.”
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) American politician, 36th president of the United States (in office from 1963 to 1969)
Kim Stanley Robinson (1952) American science fiction writer
Source: Red Mars (1992), Chapter 5, “Falling into History” (p. 375)
