“I would far rather be ignorant than knowledgeable of evil.”

Source: The Suppliants, line 453; comparable to "where ignorance is bliss, / 'Tis folly to be wise", Thomas Gray, On a Distant Prospect of Eton College, stanza 10

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 "I would far rather be ignorant than knowledgeable of evil." by Aeschylus?
Aeschylus photo
Aeschylus 119
ancient Athenian playwright -525–-456 BC

Related quotes

Herodotus photo

“The only good is knowledge, and the only evil is ignorance.”

Herodotus (-484–-425 BC) ancient Greek historian, often considered as the first historian

The words of Socrates, as quoted by Diogenes Laertius.
Misattributed

Socrates photo

“There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.”

Socrates (-470–-399 BC) classical Greek Athenian philosopher

Socrates II: xxxi http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=D.+L.+2.5.31&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0257#note-link14. Original Greek: ἓν μόνον ἀγαθὸν εἶναι, τὴν ἐπιστήμην, καὶ ἓν μόνον κακόν, τὴν ἀμαθίαν
Diogenes Laertius
Variant: The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.

F. Anstey photo

“No doubt they would tolerate him now for the Professor’s sake; but who would not rather be ignored than tolerated?”

F. Anstey (1856–1934) English novelist and journalist

Source: The Brass Bottle (1900), Chapter 3, “An Unexpected Opening”

Abraham Lincoln photo
W.B. Yeats photo

“I would be — for no knowledge is worth a straw —
Ignorant and wanton as the dawn.”

W.B. Yeats (1865–1939) Irish poet and playwright

The Dawn http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/1612/
The Wild Swans at Coole (1919)
Context: I would be ignorant as the dawn
That merely stood, rocking the glittering coach
Above the cloudy shoulders of the horses;
I would be — for no knowledge is worth a straw —
Ignorant and wanton as the dawn.

Ramakrishna photo

“Knowledge leads to unity, but Ignorance to diversity.
So long as God seems to be outside and far away, there is ignorance. But when God is realised within, that is true knowledge.”

Ramakrishna (1836–1886) Indian mystic and religious preacher

As quoted in Hindu Psychology : Its Meaning for the West (1946) by Swami Akhilananda, p. 204

Diogenes Laërtius photo

“He said that there was one only good, namely, knowledge; and one only evil, namely, ignorance.”

Diogenes Laërtius (180–240) biographer of ancient Greek philosophers

Socrates, 14.
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 200 A.D.), Book 2: Socrates, his predecessors and followers

Richard Branson photo

“Most "necessary evils" are far more evil than necessary.”

Richard Branson (1950) English business magnate, investor and philanthropist

Source: Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way

Confucius photo

Related topics