--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ignorance is not innocence." description: "\"Ignorance is not innocence.\" — Christina, Queen of Sweden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e90/christina-queen-of-sweden-3171_ignorance_ignorance-is-not-innocence-390467_390467.png" --- # Ignorance is not innocence. ![“Ignorance is not innocence.” quote by Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e90/christina-queen-of-sweden-3171_ignorance_ignorance-is-not-innocence-390467_390467.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e90/christina-queen-of-sweden-3171_ignorance_ignorance-is-not-innocence-390467_390467.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e90/christina-queen-of-sweden-3171_ignorance_ignorance-is-not-innocence-390467_390467.png) > “Ignorance is not innocence.” [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ignorance lacks the moral purity of true innocence. **In simple terms:** Not knowing isn’t the same as being pure. Key Takeaway Seek knowledge, not just ignorance. Themes knowledge morality growth Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - education - leadership decisions - public discourse Key Concepts epistemology ethical development Questions to Reflect On - Is innocence always better than awareness? - How does knowledge change responsibility? A Different Perspective Ignorance can be a protective shield. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance Innocence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-innocence-286761/) [Innocence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocence/) ## Related quotes > [Ignorance is innocence - stupidity comes with experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-bronson-alcott/ignorance-is-innocence-stupidity-comes-with-experience/) [Amos Bronson Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-bronson-alcott/) > [Ignorance is not innocence but sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/ignorance-is-not-innocence-but-sin/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“and yet a child’s utter innocence is but its blank ignorance, and the innocence more or less wanes as intelligence waxes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/and-yet-a-child-s-utter-innocence-is-but-its-blank-ignorance-and-the/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“Sin is always sin in the sight of God—whether we are conscious of it or not. Sins of ignorance need atonement just as truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/sin-is-always-sin-in-the-sight-of-god-whether-we-are-conscious-of-it/) [Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/) > [“Nobody is going to be muddle-headed enough to confuse ignorance with innocence now - it's too important. Nor is ignorance going to be cute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/nobody-is-going-to-be-muddle-headed-enough-to-confuse-ignorance-with/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [“Staring at a world too horrible to comprehend, believing -- by dint of ignorance and innocence -- that beneath this unbearable contract of guilt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/staring-at-a-world-too-horrible-to-comprehend-believing-by-dint-of/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [The snapshot has no pretense or ambition. Innocence is the quintessence of the snapshot. I wish to distinguish between innocence and ignorance. Innocence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisette-model/the-snapshot-has-no-pretense-or-ambition-innocence-is-the/) [Lisette Model](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisette-model/) > [“In certain matters, some sailors even in mature life remain unsophisticated enough. But a young seafarer of the disposition of our athletic foretopman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/in-certain-matters-some-sailors-even-in-mature-life-remain/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“Too much innocence can also refer to ignorance. Therefore, mankind is innocent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mwanandeke-kindembo/too-much-innocence-can-also-refer-to-ignorance-therefore-mankind-is/) [Mwanandeke Kindembo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mwanandeke-kindembo/) > [“The components of innocence - security, a sense of wonder, and optimism- are not just throwaway by-products of the ignorance of youth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-medved/the-components-of-innocence-security-a-sense-of-wonder-and-optimism/) [Diane Medved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-medved/) > [“Let us not subside into a single mandatory way of thinking or feeling, immersed by a spirit of self-gratification. But let’s dig into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/let-us-not-subside-into-a-single-mandatory-way-of-thinking-or-feeling/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [It had never occurred to Giles that there was something perfectly sensible about wanting to hold onto innocence. He had always gone in for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-had-never-occurred-to-giles-that-there-was-something-perfectly/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You've had a whole lot of experience, but everything is also radically new at each moment, and you have to bring a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-houston/you-ve-had-a-whole-lot-of-experience-but-everything-is-also-radically/) [Jean Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-houston/) > [It's still possible to savor the remarkable foods that millennia of human ingenuity have teased from milk. A sip of milk itself or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-mcgee/it-s-still-possible-to-savor-the-remarkable-foods-that-millennia-of/) [Harold McGee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-mcgee/) > [Children, Never look Back!" and this meant that we must never allow the future to be weighed down by memory . for children have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/children-never-look-back-and-this-meant-that-we-must-never-allow-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) ## More by Christina, Queen of Sweden > [One can really love only once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/one-can-really-love-only-once/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [It is quite as ignominious to allow oneself to be deceived as to deceive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/it-is-quite-as-ignominious-to-allow-oneself-to-be-deceived-as-to/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [Great armies are nothing but a collection of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/great-armies-are-nothing-but-a-collection-of-weakness/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [To some people everything is permitted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/to-some-people-everything-is-permitted/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [Nuns and married women are equally unhappy, if in different ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/nuns-and-married-women-are-equally-unhappy-if-in-different-ways/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [There are few prisoners more closely guarded than princes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/there-are-few-prisoners-more-closely-guarded-than-princes/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [Every man is his own worst enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/every-man-is-his-own-worst-enemy/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [I was born, have lived, and will die free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/i-was-born-have-lived-and-will-die-free/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [It would not be difficult to be a better ruler than I was: for I admit that I ruled badly; and even if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/it-would-not-be-difficult-to-be-a-better-ruler-than-i-was-for-i-admit/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [Other things titillate me more keenly than the pale pleasures of marriage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/other-things-titillate-me-more-keenly-than-the-pale-pleasures-of/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [Life is too short to be able to love as one should.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/life-is-too-short-to-be-able-to-love-as-one-should/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [There is a star above us which unites souls of the first order, though worlds and ages separate them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/there-is-a-star-above-us-which-unites-souls-of-the-first-order-though/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [You should be more afraid of a stupid man than of an evil one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/you-should-be-more-afraid-of-a-stupid-man-than-of-an-evil-one/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [It is a far greater happiness to obey no one than to rule the whole world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/it-is-a-far-greater-happiness-to-obey-no-one-than-to-rule-the-whole/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [We read for instruction, for correction, and for consolation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/we-read-for-instruction-for-correction-and-for-consolation/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) [Explore all 16 Christina, Queen of Sweden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) ## 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": "Ignorance is not innocence.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christina, Queen of Sweden" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/ignorance-is-not-innocence/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ignorance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/ignorance-is-not-innocence/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e90/christina-queen-of-sweden-3171_ignorance_ignorance-is-not-innocence-390467_390467.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e90/christina-queen-of-sweden-3171_ignorance_ignorance-is-not-innocence-390467_390467.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e90/christina-queen-of-sweden-3171_ignorance_ignorance-is-not-innocence-390467_390467.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Ignorance is not innocence.” — Christina, Queen of Sweden", "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": "Christina, Queen of Sweden", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Ignorance is not innocence.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/ignorance-is-not-innocence/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/ignorance-is-not-innocence/#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 } } ] } ```