--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The extent of a man's ignorance is not…" description: "\"The extent of a man's ignorance is not measured in what he does not know, but in what he refuses to learn.\" — Anonymous" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bb/anonymous-1_ignorance_the-extent-of-a-man-s-ignorance-is-not-m_163129.jpg" --- # The extent of a man's ignorance is not measured in what he… ![“The extent of a man's ignorance is not measured in what he does not know, but in what he refuses to learn.” quote by Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bb/anonymous-1_ignorance_the-extent-of-a-man-s-ignorance-is-not-m_163129.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bb/anonymous-1_ignorance_the-extent-of-a-man-s-ignorance-is-not-m_163129.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bb/anonymous-1_ignorance_the-extent-of-a-man-s-ignorance-is-not-m_163129.jpg) > “The extent of a man's ignorance is not measured in what he does not know, but in what he refuses to learn.” [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ignorance is judged by the things we reject learning, not just by unknown facts. **In simple terms:** We judge ignorance by what we refuse to learn. Key Takeaway Be open to new knowledge. Themes learning humility growth Mood reflective thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - education - personal development - career advancement Key Concepts closed mindset willful ignorance self‑limiting beliefs Questions to Reflect On - What are you refusing to learn? - How does denial limit growth? A Different Perspective Learning requires willingness, not just exposure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) ## Related quotes > [He who refuses to learn deserves extinction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-who-refuses-to-learn-deserves-extinction/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A nation which refuses to learn from foreign culture is nothing but a nation of idiots and lunatics... But to learn from other cultures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-nyerere/a-nation-which-refuses-to-learn-from-foreign-culture-is-nothing-but-a/) [Julius Nyerere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-nyerere/) > [The men on the trading floor may not have been to school, but they have Ph.D.’s in man’s ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-men-on-the-trading-floor-may-not-have-been-to-school-but-they/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/it-has-been-the-scheme-of-the-christian-church-and-of-all-the-other/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Man's ignorance of the Law of Love in personal and world relationships will not serve as an excuse to save him from disaster. Wealth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-russell/man-s-ignorance-of-the-law-of-love-in-personal-and-world/) [Walter Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-russell/) > [Human values are born with man. They are not got from outside. Man in his ignorance is not aware of these values. when man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/human-values-are-born-with-man-they-are-not-got-from-outside-man-in/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) > [A man's ignorance sometimes is not only useful, but beautiful-while his knowledge, so called, is oftentimes worse than useless, besides being ugly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-man-s-ignorance-sometimes-is-not-only-useful-but-beautiful-while/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“...she refuses all amorous alms, and such a refusal, to my view, justifies a theft.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/she-refuses-all-amorous-alms-and-such-a-refusal-to-my-view-justifies/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A failure is someone who does not try. people who refuses to try anything in life can't become successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-failure-is-someone-who-does-not-try-people-who-refuses-to-try/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am who I am, this perpetual painting with wet ink that refuses to dry. I refuse to boxed and labeled,categorized conformity. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-who-i-am-this-perpetual-painting-with-wet-ink-that-refuses-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/man-is-the-only-creature-who-refuses-to-be-what-he-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The philosopher is a person who refuses no pleasures which do not produce greater sorrows, and who knows how to create new ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-philosopher-is-a-person-who-refuses-no-pleasures-which-do-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Insults sting but a little when they stem from a man's ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-wiggs/insults-sting-but-a-little-when-they-stem-from-a-man-s-ignorance/) [Susan Wiggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-wiggs/) > [“How merciful a thing is man's ignorance of his immediate future! What a ghastly, paralysing thing it would have been if all those present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/how-merciful-a-thing-is-man-s-ignorance-of-his-immediate-future-what/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“A man’s ignorance sometimes is not only useful, but beautiful, while his knowledge, so called, is oftentimes worse than useless beside being ugly. Which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-man-s-ignorance-sometimes-is-not-only-useful-but-beautiful-while-2/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## More by Anonymous > [And a tear rolled down her cheek, as she said goodbye; because she's walking away, and she's never looking back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-a-tear-rolled-down-her-cheek-as-she-said-goodbye-because-she-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Me.. I have been through a lot, but I still manage to have a smile on my face. Im not worried about the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/me-i-have-been-through-a-lot-but-i-still-manage-to-have-a-smile-on-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Distance is a test of love. many will fail for those who can't withstand it, but for those who can, theres only one answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/distance-is-a-test-of-love-many-will-fail-for-those-who-can-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Im sorry I ever tried...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-sorry-i-ever-tried/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Being betrayed by the one you love is the worst feeling in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-the-one-you-love-is-the-worst-feeling-in-the-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only person I've ever purposely caused pain here is myself...By simply sharing, caring too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-person-i-ve-ever-purposely-caused-pain-here-is-myself-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Start a business, not a startup”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/start-a-business-not-a-startup/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Explore all 162,899 Anonymous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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 > [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 > [“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": "The extent of a man's ignorance is not measured in what he does not know, but in what he refuses to learn.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anonymous" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-extent-of-a-man-s-ignorance-is-not-measured-in-what-he-does-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ignorance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-extent-of-a-man-s-ignorance-is-not-measured-in-what-he-does-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bb/anonymous-1_ignorance_the-extent-of-a-man-s-ignorance-is-not-m_163129.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bb/anonymous-1_ignorance_the-extent-of-a-man-s-ignorance-is-not-m_163129.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bb/anonymous-1_ignorance_the-extent-of-a-man-s-ignorance-is-not-m_163129.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The extent of a man's ignorance is not measured in what he does not know, but in what he refuses to learn.” — Anonymous", "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": "Anonymous", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The extent of a man's ignorance...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-extent-of-a-man-s-ignorance-is-not-measured-in-what-he-does-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-extent-of-a-man-s-ignorance-is-not-measured-in-what-he-does-not/#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 } } ] } ```