--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I used to think I knew everything, but…" description: "\"I used to think I knew everything, but older you get the more you see other areas. If you could read everything about both sides, you'll pretty much be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f17/emo-philips-1788_areas_i-used-to-think-i-knew-everything-but-ol_1317411.jpg" --- # I used to think I knew everything, but older you get the… ![“I used to think I knew everything, but older you get the more you see other areas. If you could read everything about both sides, you'll pretty much be in the middle again, which is the state you had when you were totally ignorant. So my theory is if you maintain total ignorance - which isn't…” quote by Emo Philips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f17/emo-philips-1788_areas_i-used-to-think-i-knew-everything-but-ol_1317411.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f17/emo-philips-1788_areas_i-used-to-think-i-knew-everything-but-ol_1317411.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f17/emo-philips-1788_areas_i-used-to-think-i-knew-everything-but-ol_1317411.jpg) > “I used to think I knew everything, but older you get the more you see other areas. If you could read everything about both sides, you'll pretty much be in the middle again, which is the state you had when you were totally ignorant. So my theory is if you maintain total ignorance - which isn't easy, but I try - you'll be just as far ahead as if you'd spent days and days reading about the whole issue. And you have that much extra time to play Pac-man.” [Emo Philips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emo-philips/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Admitting ignorance can be more efficient than exhaustive study. **In simple terms:** Being clueless can save time and keep you ahead. Key Takeaway Embrace strategic ignorance. Themes humor learning humility efficiency Mood witty insightful Type humorous philosophical When to use this quote - decision making - personal growth - time management Key Concepts cognitive bias information overload strategic ignorance Questions to Reflect On - When is it better to stay uninformed? - How do you balance knowledge and time? A Different Perspective Ignorance can lead to blind spots. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Both sides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/both-sides/) [Extra time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extra-time/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Well, I don't think most Americans are playing the super-PAC game. I think what you have is elites on both sides playing the super-PAC…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-abramoff/well-i-don-t-think-most-americans-are-playing-the-super-pac-game-i/) [Jack Abramoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-abramoff/) > [“Ignorance isn't bliss, but neither is knowledge. Sometimes you just know more, but it doesn't make you any happier.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/ignorance-isn-t-bliss-but-neither-is-knowledge-sometimes-you-just/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [What a refreshing mind you have, young man. There really is nothing quite like total ignorance, is there?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/what-a-refreshing-mind-you-have-young-man-there-really-is-nothing/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Scientists habitually moan that the public doesn't understand them. But they complain too much: public ignorance isn't peculiar to science. It's sad if some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/scientists-habitually-moan-that-the-public-doesn-t-understand-them/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [I plead total ignorance to Led Zeppelin. I am totally in the dark about them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-o/i-plead-total-ignorance-to-led-zeppelin-i-am-totally-in-the-dark/) [Karen O](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-o/) > [ Concerning no subject would \[George Bernard\] Shaw be deterred by the minor accident of total ignorance from penning a definitive opinion. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/concerning-no-subject-would-george-bernard-shaw-be-deterred-by-the/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [Ignorance isn't bliss, but sometimes ignorance makes it possible for us to sleep at night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/ignorance-isn-t-bliss-but-sometimes-ignorance-makes-it-possible-for/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“Ignorance isn't necessarily a vacuum waiting to be filled; just as often, it is a wall, actively maintained. (p.107)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/ignorance-isn-t-necessarily-a-vacuum-waiting-to-be-filled-just-as/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [The failure of the U.S.'s foreign adventures often seems to have its roots in the U.S.'s total ignorance of things on the ground, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-carey/the-failure-of-the-u-s-s-foreign-adventures-often-seems-to-have-its/) [Peter Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-carey/) > [“Ecclesiastes shows that man without God is in total ignorance and inevitable misery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/ecclesiastes-shows-that-man-without-god-is-in-total-ignorance-and/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [“They were in a position of total ignorance and people in that position often died without being enlightened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-colfer/they-were-in-a-position-of-total-ignorance-and-people-in-that/) [Eoin Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-colfer/) > [True, a little learning is a dangerous thing, but it still beats total ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-a-little-learning-is-a-dangerous-thing-but-it-still-beats-total/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ignorance at twenty-two isn't a structural defect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-lauriston-livermore/ignorance-at-twenty-two-isn-t-a-structural-defect/) [Jesse Lauriston Livermore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-lauriston-livermore/) > [“I would call purity a total ignorance of the torments of the flesh or the triumph of the will over them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-vieux-chauvet/i-would-call-purity-a-total-ignorance-of-the-torments-of-the-flesh-or/) Marie Vieux-Chauvet > [Now I believe I can hear the philosophers protesting that it can only be misery to live in folly, illusion, deception and ignorance, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desiderius-erasmus/now-i-believe-i-can-hear-the-philosophers-protesting-that-it-can-only/) [Desiderius Erasmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desiderius-erasmus/) ## More by Emo Philips > [Once I was in a restaurant and I dropped my fork on the floor, and they gave me a new fork. 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