Literary notes about ignorance (AI summary)
Literary works use the term "ignorance" as a versatile symbol that captures everything from human frailty to societal critique. It is depicted as both a confession of our innate limitations and a state that shrouds truths in darkness—as when a character’s unawareness is likened to a literal dimness or moral deficit [1, 2, 3]. Authors also explore ignorance as a deliberate ploy, whether characters feign it to protect themselves or institutions exploit it to manipulate perception, as seen when ignorance is juxtaposed with elitism or exploited to obscure harsh realities [4, 5]. Moreover, in philosophical discourse, ignorance is critiqued as the very foundation upon which false confidence is built, emphasizing that true wisdom begins with admitting what one does not know [6, 7, 8].
- It was a confession of human ignorance and weakness.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - I say this house is as dark as ignorance, though ignorance were as dark as hell; and I say there was never man thus abused.
— from Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will by William Shakespeare - I say there is no darkness but ignorance; in which thou art more puzzled than the Egyptians in their fog.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - You see, I was keeping up my apparent ignorance.
— from The Romance of Lust: A classic Victorian erotic novel by Anonymous - The Nazis used his name because it was so plainly Jewish, hoping that the ignorance of the American troops would permit their lies to spread.
— from Psychological Warfare by Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger - Is not this ignorance of a disgraceful sort, the ignorance which is the conceit that a man knows what he does not know?
— from Apology by Plato - The Yaksha asked,—‘What, O king, is ignorance?
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - And must not an animal be a lover of learning who determines what he likes and dislikes by the test of knowledge and ignorance?
— from The Republic by Plato
