Ignorance

Ignorance is a prolific mother of vice and crime, and whatever tends to destroy ignorance aims a blow also at the existence of crime.
~ William E. A. Axon, in Meliora (October 1867). Article on Free Public Libraries

Ignorance is an evil weed, which dictators may cultivate among their dupes, but which no democracy can afford among its citizens.
~ William Henry (W.H.) Beveridge, Full Employment in a Free Society (1944).

It is against Stupidity in every shape and form that we have to wage our eternal battle. But how can we wonder at the want of sense on the part of those who have had no advantages, when we see such plentiful absence of that commodity on the part of those who have had all the advantages?
~ William Booth, In Darkest England and the Way Out (October 1890). Part I. -- The Darkness. Chapter V. On the Verge of the Abyss

Thou may'st of double ign'rance boast,
Who know'st not that thou nothing know'st.
~ William Cowper, in The Life and Posthumous Writings of William Cowper, Esq., Volume II (1803). Appendix. No. 4. Epigrams, Translated from the Latin of Owen: On one Ignorant and Arrogant

While the heritability of intelligence is a matter of scientific controversy, stupidity comes down in an unbroken line.
~ William L. DeAndrea

There is an excuse for ignorance but there is a penalty for ignorance and we all pay it.
~ W. Edwards Deming, in PBS-TV (1990). The Deming of America

Ignorance and illiteracy are obviously not synonymous; even illiterate masses can cast their ballots with intelligence, once they are informed.
~ William Orville Douglas

The more I search of thee the less I know.
~ William Drummond (of Hawthornden), from The Flowers of Zion; or Spiritual Poems (1623). Man's Knowledge, Ignorance in the Mysteries of God

Everyone knows his part but is ignorant of its meaning in the play.
~ William James "Will" Durant

Stupidity is the deliberate cultivation of ignorance.
~ William Gaddis, Carpenter's Gothic (1985).

Ignorance is the mother of persecution.
~ William Gurnall, The Christian In Complete Armour (1665).

He stuffs his head with authorities built on authorities, with quotations quoted from quotations, while he locks up his senses, his understanding, and his heart.
~ William Hazlitt, Table-Talk; or, Original Essays, Volume II (1821-1822). Essay VIII. On the Ignorance of the Learned

Ignorance alone makes monsters or bugbears: our actual acquaintances are all very common-place people.
~ William Hazlitt, Table-Talk, or Original Essays on Men and Manners, 2nd series (1824). Why Distant Objects Please

It is better to be able neither to read nor write than to be able to do nothing else.
~ William Hazlitt, Table-Talk; or, Original Essays (1821-1822). Essay VIII. On the Ignorance of the Learned

Prejudice is the child of ignorance.
~ William Hazlitt, in Sketches and Essays (1839). On Prejudice (written in 1830)

[T]he great world has been doing little else but playing at make-believe all its life-time.
~ William Hazlitt, in The Liberal (1823). On the Spirit of Monarchy

There are many who talk on from ignorance rather than from knowledge, and who find the former an inexhaustible fund of conversation.
~ William Hazlitt, Characteristics: in the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims (1823).

There is no one thoroughly despicable. We cannot descend much lower than an idiot; and an idiot has some advantages over a wise man.
~ William Hazlitt, Characteristics: in the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims (1823).

[T]he greatest vested interest is not property but ignorance.
~ William Jovanovich, Now, Barabbas (1960).

I do not believe the people who tell me that they do not care a row of pins for the opinion of their fellows. It is the bravado of ignorance.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Summing Up (1938).

It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man by argument.
~ William Gibbs McAdoo, from Crowded Years: The Reminiscences of William G. McAdoo (1931).

Stupidity is an attempt to iron out all differences, and not to use or value them creatively.
~ Bill Mollison, Permaculture: A Designer's Manual (1988).

Blindness we may forgive, but baseness we will smite.
~ William Vaughn Moody, in The Atlantic Monthly (May 1900). An Ode in Time of Hesitation

The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.
~ William Osler, in Montreal Medical Journal (September 1902).

To confess ignorance is often wiser than to beat about the bush with a hypothetical diagnosis.
~ William Osler, in Montreal Medical Journal (1895). Ephemerides

The appearance of chance will always bear a proportion to the ignorance of the observer.
~ William Paley, Natural Theology: or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity (1802). Chapter XXVI: The Goodness of the Deity

It is admirable to consider how many Millions of People come into, and go out of the World, Ignorant of themselves, and of the World they have lived in.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. Ignorance

An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out.
~ Will Rogers

Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.
~ Will Rogers, The Illiterate Digest (1924). Defending My Soup Plate Position (aka From Nuts to Soup)

The more ignorant you are, the quicker you fight.
~ Will Rogers, quoted in Criswell Freeman The Wisdom of the West (1997).

When ignorance gets started, it knows no bounds.
~ Will Rogers

Ignore the obvious, for it is unworthy of the clear eye and the kindly heart.
~ William Saroyan, The Time of Your Life (1939 play).

I say this house is as dark as ignorance, though
ignorance were as dark as hell.
~ William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night. Act IV, scene ii

Let me not burst in ignorance.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act I, scene iv

There is no darkness but ignorance.
~ William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night. Act IV, scene ii

We may forgive ignorance, but not presumption. He who has nothing to say, should say nothing.
~ William Gilmore Simms, Egeria: Or, Voices of Thought and Counsel for the Woods and Wayside (1853).

Why waste time learning, when ignorance is instantaneous?
~ Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

The amplest knowledge has the largest faith. Ignorance is always incredulous.
~ Robert Eldridge Aris (R.A.) Willmott, Pleasures, Objects, And Advantages Of Literature (1851). XXII. Criticism Opens Fresh Springs of Enjoyment

And it came to pass that in the hands of the ignorant, the words of the Bible were used to beat plowshares into swords.
~ Alan Wilson Watts

No area of life is stupid to someone who takes it seriously.
~ William K. Zinsser, On Writing Well (1976). 10. Bits & Pieces