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Ignorance Quotes

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Ignorance Quotes

“And capital punishment, however ineffective it may be and through whatever ignorance it may be resorted to, is a strictly defensive act, - at least in theory.”

May Ignorance Theory Punishment Capital Punishment

Author:Benjamin Tucker

“Theories that diseases are caused by mental states and can be cured by will power, are always an index of how much is not understood about the physical terrain of a disease.”

States Ignorance Theory Disease Understood Will Power Terrain

Book:Illness as metaphor

Source: Illness as metaphor

“The human mind feels restless and dissatisfied under the anxieties of ignorance. It longs for the repose of conviction; and to gain this repose it will often rather precipitate its conclusions than wait for the tardy lights of observation and experiment. There is such a thing, too, as the love of simplicity and system,--a prejudice of the understanding which disposes it to include all the phenomena of nature under a few sweeping generalities,--an indolence which loves to repose on the beauties of a theory rather than encounter the fatiguing detail of its evidences.”

Source: Works

“Human rights are an aspect of natural law, a consequence of the way the universe works, as solid and as real as photons or the concept of pi. The idea of self- ownership is the equivalent of Pythagoras' theorem, of evolution by natural selection, of general relativity, and of quantum theory. Before humankind discovered any of these, it suffered, to varying degrees, in misery and ignorance.”

“[Comics is] one of the last havens for honesty when it comes to a reader's genuine response to art. Most of us, if we don't find any sympathy or pleasure, for example, in a modern painting, are likely to blame our own ignorance of the history and theory of painting. But nobody pretends to like a bad comic strip. Such harshness is necessary for any real truth to surface, I think, and for art to really contribute anything to life. Though I don't know. I could be wrong.”

Ifs Thinking Knows Art Real Lasts Pleasure Modern Havens Honesty Example Ignorance Painting Theory Reader Blame Response Surface Genuine Comic Comic Strips Harshness Real Truth

Author:Chris Ware

“Why should we, however, in economics, have to plead ignorance of the sort of facts on which, in the case of a physical theory, a scientist would certainly be expected to give precise information?”

Giving Should Facts Cases Information Ignorance Theory Economics Scientist Expected Precise

Author:Friedrich August von Hayek

“The whole machinery of our intelligence, our general ideas and laws, fixed and external objects, principles, persons, and gods, are so many symbolic, algebraic expressions. They stand for experience; experience which we are incapable of retaining and surveying in its multitudinous immediacy. We should flounder hopelessly, like the animals, did we not keep ourselves afloat and direct our course by these intellectual devices. Theory helps us to bear our ignorance of fact.”

Source: The Works of George Santayana

“I used to think I knew everything, but older you get the more you see other areas. If you could read everything about both sides, you'll pretty much be in the middle again, which is the state you had when you were totally ignorant. So my theory is if you maintain total ignorance - which isn't easy, but I try - you'll be just as far ahead as if you'd spent days and days reading about the whole issue. And you have that much extra time to play Pac-man.”

Ifs Thinking Men Trying States Play Whole Used Reading Easy Sides Issues Middle Ignorance Theory Areas Ignorant Extras Both Sides Pacs Extra Time

Author:Emo Philips

“I think that we have basically nothing in the field of human behavior. Maybe that is just a condition of temporary ignorance. But it may be that we are simply not intellectually equipped to develop such a theory.”

Thinking Humans May Conditions Fields Ignorance Theory Behavior Temporary Human Behavior

Author:Noam Chomsky

“Theory helps us to bear our ignorance of facts.”

Facts Helping Science Ignorance Theory Bears

Book:The Sense of Beauty

Source: The Sense of Beauty

“His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge. Of contemporary literature, philosophy and politics he appeared to know next to nothing... My surprise reached a climax, however, when I found incidentally that he was ignorant of the Copernican Theory and of the composition of the Solar System.”

Knows Book Philosophy Next Found Literature Language Ignorance Theory Surprise Ignorant Contemporary Remarkable Composition Solar System Climax Contemporary Literature Study In Scarlet

Book:The Complete Sherlock Holmes: All 56 Stories & 4 Novels

Source: The Complete Sherlock Holmes: All 56 Stories & 4 Novels

“I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square.”

“I am convinced that it is impossible to expound the methods of induction in a sound manner, without resting them upon the theory of probability. Perfect knowledge alone can give certainty, and in nature perfect knowledge would be infinite knowledge, which is clearly beyond our capacities. We have, therefore, to content ourselves with partial knowledge - knowledge mingled with ignorance, producing doubt.”

Giving Would Be Science Sound Ability Perfect Knowledge Doubt Impossible Ignorance Theory Capacity Infinite Method Convinced Certainty Probability Infinite Knowledge

Author:William Stanley Jevons

“Dissections daily convince us of our ignorance of the seats of diseases, and cause us to blush at our prescriptions. How often are we disappointed in our expectation from the most certain and powerful of our remedies, by the negligence or obstinacy of our patients! What mischief have we done under the belief of false facts and false theories! We have assisted in multiplying diseases. We have done more — we have increased their mortality.”

Ifs Done Facts Truth Belief Causes Leader Ignorance Theory Drug Disease Convince Mortality Indifferent Mischief Prescriptions Multiplying Convince Us Dissection

Author:Benjamin Rush