--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are forces, Lucius, infinitely more…" description: "\"“There are forces, Lucius, infinitely more powerful than reason and science.\" \" What are they?\" asked Cotta. \"Ignorance and folly,\" replied Aristaeus.”..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/anatole-france-1443_ignorance_there-are-forces-lucius-infinitely-more_282877.jpg" --- # There are forces, Lucius, infinitely more powerful than… ![“There are forces, Lucius, infinitely more powerful than reason and science." " What are they?" asked Cotta. "Ignorance and folly," replied Aristaeus.” quote by Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/anatole-france-1443_ignorance_there-are-forces-lucius-infinitely-more_282877.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/anatole-france-1443_ignorance_there-are-forces-lucius-infinitely-more_282877.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/anatole-france-1443_ignorance_there-are-forces-lucius-infinitely-more_282877.jpg) > ““There are forces, Lucius, infinitely more powerful than reason and science." " What are they?" asked Cotta. "Ignorance and folly," replied Aristaeus.”” [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reason and science are limited; ignorance and folly are more powerful forces that shape outcomes. **In simple terms:** Ignorance and folly outweigh rational thought. Key Takeaway Beware the limits of logic. Themes knowledge human nature limitations Mood cautious reflective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - political decisionmaking - education - personal relationships Key Concepts philosophy psychology cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when ignorance drives a situation? - What strategies counteract folly? A Different Perspective Rational arguments can still be effective when combined with emotional appeal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cotta Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cotta-ignorance-2738931/) [Folly Replied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly-replied-2738930/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance Folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-folly-802809/) [Replied Aristaeus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/replied-aristaeus-2738929/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [We are still in Eden; the wall that shuts us out is our own ignorance and folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cole/we-are-still-in-eden-the-wall-that-shuts-us-out-is-our-own-ignorance/) [Thomas Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cole/) > [To Believe without evidence and demonstration is an act of ignorance and folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/to-believe-without-evidence-and-demonstration-is-an-act-of-ignorance/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [A tree which has lost its head will never recover it again, and will survive only as a monument of the ignorance and folly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-william-curtis/a-tree-which-has-lost-its-head-will-never-recover-it-again-and-will/) [George William Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-william-curtis/) > [“Ignorance is the greatest poverty. Ignorance is death in life. There is no evil so great as ignorance. Folly is an incurable disease. A”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wortabet/ignorance-is-the-greatest-poverty-ignorance-is-death-in-life-there-is/) [John Wortabet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wortabet/) > [The future is a convenient place for dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-future-is-a-convenient-place-for-dreams/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [... informed ignorance provides the natural state of mind for research scientists at the ever-shifting frontiers of knowledge. 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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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) ## More by Anatole France > [“No, let us not conquer the heavens. It is enough to have the power to do so. War engenders war, and victory defeat. God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/no-let-us-not-conquer-the-heavens-it-is-enough-to-have-the-power-to/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [We have drugs to make women speak, but none to keep them silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/we-have-drugs-to-make-women-speak-but-none-to-keep-them-silent/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [The law ... allows rich as well as poor to sleep under bridges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-law-allows-rich-as-well-as-poor-to-sleep-under-bridges/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [“...the adventure of the soul among the masterpieces.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-adventure-of-the-soul-among-the-masterpieces/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [“If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/if-fifty-million-people-say-a-foolish-thing-it-is-still-a-foolish/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [The future is a convenient place for dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-future-is-a-convenient-place-for-dreams/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [The truth is that life is delicious, horrible, charming, frightful, sweet, bitter, and that is everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-truth-is-that-life-is-delicious-horrible-charming-frightful-sweet/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [“And what, above all, I blame in you is that you have not married in compliance with the law and given children to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/and-what-above-all-i-blame-in-you-is-that-you-have-not-married-in/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [An old philosopher said to Monsieur Coignard, a Reverend Father: 'You are a pig!' To which Abad Coignard answered: 'You flatter me, sir. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/an-old-philosopher-said-to-monsieur-coignard-a-reverend-father-you/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [A people living under the perpetual menace of war and invasion is very easy to govern. It demands no social reform. It does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/a-people-living-under-the-perpetual-menace-of-war-and-invasion-is/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/until-one-has-loved-an-animal-a-part-of-one-s-soul-remains-unawakened/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [The faculty of doubting is rare among men. A few choice spirits carry the germs of it in them, but these do not develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-faculty-of-doubting-is-rare-among-men-a-few-choice-spirits-carry/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [When a thing has been said and well said, have no scruple; take it and copy it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/when-a-thing-has-been-said-and-well-said-have-no-scruple-take-it-and/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Without the utopians of other times, men would still live in caves, miserable and naked;...utopia is the principle of all progress, adn the essay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/without-the-utopians-of-other-times-men-would-still-live-in-caves/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) [Explore all 228 Anatole France quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) ## 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": "“There are forces, Lucius, infinitely more powerful than reason and science.\" \" What are they?\" asked Cotta. \"Ignorance and folly,\" replied Aristaeus.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anatole France" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/there-are-forces-lucius-infinitely-more-powerful-than-reason-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ignorance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/there-are-forces-lucius-infinitely-more-powerful-than-reason-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/anatole-france-1443_ignorance_there-are-forces-lucius-infinitely-more_282877.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/anatole-france-1443_ignorance_there-are-forces-lucius-infinitely-more_282877.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/anatole-france-1443_ignorance_there-are-forces-lucius-infinitely-more_282877.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are forces, Lucius, infinitely more powerful than reason and science.\" \" What are they?\" asked Cotta…” — Anatole France", "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": "Anatole France", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There are forces, Lucius, infinitely more...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/there-are-forces-lucius-infinitely-more-powerful-than-reason-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/there-are-forces-lucius-infinitely-more-powerful-than-reason-and/#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 } } ] } ```