--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If those who know why and how neglect to…" description: "\"“If those who know why and how neglect to act, those who do not know will act, and the world will continue to flounder.”\" — Alfred Korzybski" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/alfred-korzybski-8234_ignorance_if-those-who-know-why-and-how-neglect-to_2633132.jpg" --- # If those who know why and how neglect to act, those who do… ![“If those who know why and how neglect to act, those who do not know will act, and the world will continue to flounder.” quote by Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/alfred-korzybski-8234_ignorance_if-those-who-know-why-and-how-neglect-to_2633132.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/alfred-korzybski-8234_ignorance_if-those-who-know-why-and-how-neglect-to_2633132.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/alfred-korzybski-8234_ignorance_if-those-who-know-why-and-how-neglect-to_2633132.jpg) > ““If those who know why and how neglect to act, those who do not know will act, and the world will continue to flounder.”” [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When knowledgeable people stay idle, uninformed individuals act, causing ongoing societal problems. **In simple terms:** Ignorance leads to chaos. Key Takeaway Encourage informed action. Themes knowledge responsibility societal impact Mood concerned analytical Type philosophical social When to use this quote - policy making - education - civic engagement Key Concepts inaction ignorance consequences Questions to Reflect On - How can we motivate the knowledgeable? - What barriers prevent informed action? A Different Perspective People may lack resources to act. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Act Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/act-know-638301/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know/) [Know Act](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-act-361459/) [Know Neglect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-neglect-2206299/) [Willingness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willingness/) [World Continue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-continue-264582/) ## Related quotes > [To know and not to act is not to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wang-yangming/to-know-and-not-to-act-is-not-to-know/) [Wang Yangming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wang-yangming/) > [“People don't want to know. They have to be made to know. Whether they act on what they know is up to them. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/people-don-t-want-to-know-they-have-to-be-made-to-know-whether-they/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [I'm not afraid for the World will end in 2012 I fear that the World will continue WITHOUT CHANGING ANYTHING..!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-not-afraid-for-the-world-will-end-in-2012-i-fear-that-the-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you are young, you always expect that the world is going to end. And then you get older and the world still chugs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/when-you-are-young-you-always-expect-that-the-world-is-going-to-end/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [The world will continue to try & tell you who you are...until you stand up & show the world exactly who you're gonna be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-world-will-continue-to-try-tell-you-who-you-are-until-you-stand/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is no appeal from the ways of the world, which must continue on its own terms or take us all down with it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-van-doren/there-is-no-appeal-from-the-ways-of-the-world-which-must-continue-on/) [Mark Van Doren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-van-doren/) > [Regardless of politics, our world will continue to change rapidly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-jahren/regardless-of-politics-our-world-will-continue-to-change-rapidly/) [Hope Jahren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-jahren/) > [Well, hip-hop is what makes the world go around. You could take anything off the face of the world and the world will continue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/snoop-dogg/well-hip-hop-is-what-makes-the-world-go-around-you-could-take/) [Snoop Dogg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/snoop-dogg/) > [The world will continue only as long as we maintain our humanity?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786-barb-d/the-world-will-continue-only-as-long-as-we-maintain-our-humanity/) [Mak\_786 Barb\_D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786-barb-d/) > [If everyone in the world sat quietly at the same time, closed their eyes and concentrated as hard as they could on peace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/if-everyone-in-the-world-sat-quietly-at-the-same-time-closed-their/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [This World will always continue to be a mixture of Good and Evil. Our duty is to sympathize with the weak and to Love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/this-world-will-always-continue-to-be-a-mixture-of-good-and-evil-our/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“As James Gustave Speth wrote in his book A Bridge at the Edge of the World, if we continue business as usual, the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-christina-wood/as-james-gustave-speth-wrote-in-his-book-a-bridge-at-the-edge-of-the/) [Mary Christina Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-christina-wood/) > [They try to engage the world as much as they can and we will continue until they leave our land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/they-try-to-engage-the-world-as-much-as-they-can-and-we-will-continue/) [Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/) > [The world cannot continue to wage war like physical giants and to seek peace like intellectual pygmies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-o-connor/the-world-cannot-continue-to-wage-war-like-physical-giants-and-to/) [Basil O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-o-connor/) > [Without perestroika, the cold war simply would not have ended. But the world could not continue developing as it had, with the stark menace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/without-perestroika-the-cold-war-simply-would-not-have-ended-but-the/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) ## More by Alfred Korzybski > [The objective level is not words, and cannot be reached by words alone. We must point our finger and be silent, or we will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/the-objective-level-is-not-words-and-cannot-be-reached-by-words-alone/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [God may forgive your sins, but your nervous system won't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/god-may-forgive-your-sins-but-your-nervous-system-won-t/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [“We humans, through old habits, and because of the inherent structure of human knowledge have a tendency to make static, definite, and, in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/we-humans-through-old-habits-and-because-of-the-inherent-structure-of/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [Whatever you say it is, it isn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/whatever-you-say-it-is-it-isn-t/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [Let us repeat the two crucial negative premises as established firmly by all human experience: (1) Words are not the things we are speaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/let-us-repeat-the-two-crucial-negative-premises-as-established-firmly/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [To regard human beings as tools - as instruments - for the use of other human beings is not only unscientific but it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/to-regard-human-beings-as-tools-as-instruments-for-the-use-of-other/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [I am the same kind of moron as the rest of you, it's the method that does the work, for me as well as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/i-am-the-same-kind-of-moron-as-the-rest-of-you-it-s-the-method-that/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [Who rules our symbols, rules us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/who-rules-our-symbols-rules-us/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [Whatever you may say something is, it is not!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/whatever-you-may-say-something-is-it-is-not/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [Second order effects, such as belief in belief, makes fanaticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/second-order-effects-such-as-belief-in-belief-makes-fanaticism/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [“Definitions create conditions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/definitions-create-conditions/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [Mathematics and logic have been proved to be one; a fact from which it seems to follow that mathematics may successfully deal with non-quantitative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/mathematics-and-logic-have-been-proved-to-be-one-a-fact-from-which-it/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [There are two ways to slice easily thorugh life; to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/there-are-two-ways-to-slice-easily-thorugh-life-to-believe-everything/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [“Philosophy, as defined by Fichte, is the "science of sciences." Its aim was to solve the problems of the world. In the past, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/philosophy-as-defined-by-fichte-is-the-science-of-sciences-its-aim/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [“There are two ways to slide easily through life: Namely, to believe everything, or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/there-are-two-ways-to-slide-easily-through-life-namely-to-believe/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) [Explore all 82 Alfred Korzybski quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) ## More Ignorance quotes > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ignorance is not bliss — it is oblivion. Determined ignorance is the hastiest kind of oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-wylie/ignorance-is-not-bliss-it-is-oblivion-determined-ignorance-is-the/) [Philip Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-wylie/) > [... informed ignorance provides the natural state of mind for research scientists at the ever-shifting frontiers of knowledge. People who believe themselves ignorant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/informed-ignorance-provides-the-natural-state-of-mind-for-research/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“If knowledge does not liberate the self from the self, then ignorance is better than such knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hakim-sanai/if-knowledge-does-not-liberate-the-self-from-the-self-then-ignorance/) [Hakim Sanai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hakim-sanai/) > [You are senile old fool, and because of your impudence, I cannot fathom how you still live!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-are-senile-old-fool-and-because-of-your-impudence-i-cannot-fathom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/knowledge-will-forever-govern-ignorance-and-a-people-who-mean-to-be/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“Don’t turn your face away. Once you’ve seen, you can no longer act like you don’t know. Open your eyes to the truth. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vashti-quiroz-vega/don-t-turn-your-face-away-once-you-ve-seen-you-can-no-longer-act-like/) [Vashti Quiroz-Vega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vashti-quiroz-vega/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-only-victories-which-leave-no-regret-are-those-which-are-gained/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [“Those who embrace prejudice doom themselves to live in ignorance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-p-lintz-sr/those-who-embrace-prejudice-doom-themselves-to-live-in-ignorance/) [John P Lintz Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-p-lintz-sr/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [Sanity can take one of only two forms: that of ignorance, or denial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-r-audette/sanity-can-take-one-of-only-two-forms-that-of-ignorance-or-denial/) [Derek R. Audette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-r-audette/) [Browse all 5,657 Ignorance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If those who know why and how neglect to act, those who do not know will act, and the world will continue to flounder.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alfred Korzybski" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/if-those-who-know-why-and-how-neglect-to-act-those-who-do-not-know/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ignorance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/if-those-who-know-why-and-how-neglect-to-act-those-who-do-not-know/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/alfred-korzybski-8234_ignorance_if-those-who-know-why-and-how-neglect-to_2633132.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/alfred-korzybski-8234_ignorance_if-those-who-know-why-and-how-neglect-to_2633132.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/alfred-korzybski-8234_ignorance_if-those-who-know-why-and-how-neglect-to_2633132.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If those who know why and how neglect to act, those who do not know will act, and the world will continue to…” — Alfred Korzybski", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alfred Korzybski", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If those who know why and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/if-those-who-know-why-and-how-neglect-to-act-those-who-do-not-know/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/if-those-who-know-why-and-how-neglect-to-act-those-who-do-not-know/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```