--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: By lack of understanding they remained…" description: "\"“By lack of understanding they remained sane. They simply swallowed everything, and what they swallowed did them no harm, because it left no residue be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/george-orwell-57_lack-of-understandin_by-lack-of-understanding-they-remained-s_125763.jpg" --- # By lack of understanding they remained sane. They simply… ![“By lack of understanding they remained sane. They simply swallowed everything, and what they swallowed did them no harm, because it left no residue behind, just as a grain of corn will pass undigested through the body of a bird.” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/george-orwell-57_lack-of-understandin_by-lack-of-understanding-they-remained-s_125763.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/george-orwell-57_lack-of-understandin_by-lack-of-understanding-they-remained-s_125763.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/george-orwell-57_lack-of-understandin_by-lack-of-understanding-they-remained-s_125763.jpg) > ““By lack of understanding they remained sane. They simply swallowed everything, and what they swallowed did them no harm, because it left no residue behind, just as a grain of corn will pass undigested through the body of a bird.”” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ignorance can preserve sanity; swallowing unexamined ideas leaves no lingering mental residue. **In simple terms:** Blind acceptance can keep the mind untroubled. Key Takeaway Lack of critical scrutiny may protect mental peace. Themes ignorance sanity cognitive load Mood cautious reflective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - consuming sensational news - following trends without questioning - relying on authority Key Concepts psychological defense mechanisms Practical Applications - practice critical thinking - limit exposure to unverified information Questions to Reflect On - When does ignorance become harmful? - How can we balance mental peace with informed awareness? A Different Perspective Avoiding questioning can lead to manipulation and stagnation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Lack of understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lack-of-understanding/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) ## Related quotes > [“They could be made to accept the most flagrant violations of reality, because they never fully grasped the enormity of what was demanded of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/they-could-be-made-to-accept-the-most-flagrant-violations-of-reality-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“By lack of understanding they remained sane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/by-lack-of-understanding-they-remained-sane/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“He realized how easy it was to present an appearance of orthodoxy while having no grasp whatever of what orthodoxy meant. In a way,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-realized-how-easy-it-was-to-present-an-appearance-of-orthodoxy/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [In a way, the world−view of the Party imposed itself most successfully on people incapable of understanding it. They could be made to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-a-way-the-world-view-of-the-party-imposed-itself-most-successfully/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The secularizing 'values' and events that have been predicted would happen in the Muslim world have now begun to unfold with increasing momentum and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syed-muhammad-naquib-al-attas/the-secularizing-values-and-events-that-have-been-predicted-would/) [Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syed-muhammad-naquib-al-attas/) > [“The wonderful world of human relationships is a rich mixture of backgrounds, perceptions, habits, preferences, behaviors, and motivators. These differences can create barriers to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/the-wonderful-world-of-human-relationships-is-a-rich-mixture-of/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [My biggest problem with everything going on is the lack of understanding and the lack of respect in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-griffin/my-biggest-problem-with-everything-going-on-is-the-lack-of/) [Blake Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-griffin/) > [Education, n.: That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/education-n-that-which-discloses-to-the-wise-and-disguises-from-the/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Confusion and clutter are failures of design, not attributes of information. And so the point is to find design strategies that reveal detail and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-tufte/confusion-and-clutter-are-failures-of-design-not-attributes-of/) [Edward Tufte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-tufte/) > [When we enlarge our view of the world, we deepen our understanding of our own lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yo-yo-ma/when-we-enlarge-our-view-of-the-world-we-deepen-our-understanding-of/) [Yo-Yo Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yo-yo-ma/) > [“In order to live a meaningful life, humans need answers, i.e., a certain understanding of basic existential questions. These ‘answers’ do not have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lars-fr-h-svendsen/in-order-to-live-a-meaningful-life-humans-need-answers-i-e-a-certain/) [Lars Fr. H. Svendsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lars-fr-h-svendsen/) > [“I suspect that if we can build such ultra-intelligent machines, then the first one will be severely limited by the software we’ve written for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/i-suspect-that-if-we-can-build-such-ultra-intelligent-machines-then/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“Children perceive frightening ghosts and monsters and dragons and they are terrified. Yet if they ask someone they trust for the meaning of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foundation-for-inner-peace/children-perceive-frightening-ghosts-and-monsters-and-dragons-and/) [Foundation for Inner Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foundation-for-inner-peace/) > [“How was your day?” he asked. I faltered, unaccustomed to the question. The look on my face must have been strange because he laughed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaylynne-spauls/how-was-your-day-he-asked-i-faltered-unaccustomed-to-the-question-the/) [Kaylynne Spauls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaylynne-spauls/) > [“I sighed, he sighed, the wind and flowers sighed too. I think those marble statues sighed along as well, in their lack of understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-c-andrews/i-sighed-he-sighed-the-wind-and-flowers-sighed-too-i-think-those/) [V.C. Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-c-andrews/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Lack of understanding quotes > [“I sighed, he sighed, the wind and flowers sighed too. I think those marble statues sighed along as well, in their lack of understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-c-andrews/i-sighed-he-sighed-the-wind-and-flowers-sighed-too-i-think-those/) [V.C. Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-c-andrews/) > [“He realized how easy it was to present an appearance of orthodoxy while having no grasp whatever of what orthodoxy meant. In a way,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-realized-how-easy-it-was-to-present-an-appearance-of-orthodoxy/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“How was your day?” he asked. I faltered, unaccustomed to the question. The look on my face must have been strange because he laughed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaylynne-spauls/how-was-your-day-he-asked-i-faltered-unaccustomed-to-the-question-the/) [Kaylynne Spauls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaylynne-spauls/) > [“Children perceive frightening ghosts and monsters and dragons and they are terrified. Yet if they ask someone they trust for the meaning of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foundation-for-inner-peace/children-perceive-frightening-ghosts-and-monsters-and-dragons-and/) [Foundation for Inner Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foundation-for-inner-peace/) > [“I suspect that if we can build such ultra-intelligent machines, then the first one will be severely limited by the software we’ve written for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/i-suspect-that-if-we-can-build-such-ultra-intelligent-machines-then/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“In order to live a meaningful life, humans need answers, i.e., a certain understanding of basic existential questions. These ‘answers’ do not have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lars-fr-h-svendsen/in-order-to-live-a-meaningful-life-humans-need-answers-i-e-a-certain/) [Lars Fr. H. Svendsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lars-fr-h-svendsen/) > [When we enlarge our view of the world, we deepen our understanding of our own lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yo-yo-ma/when-we-enlarge-our-view-of-the-world-we-deepen-our-understanding-of/) [Yo-Yo Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yo-yo-ma/) > [Confusion and clutter are failures of design, not attributes of information. And so the point is to find design strategies that reveal detail and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-tufte/confusion-and-clutter-are-failures-of-design-not-attributes-of/) [Edward Tufte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-tufte/) > [Education, n.: That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/education-n-that-which-discloses-to-the-wise-and-disguises-from-the/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [My biggest problem with everything going on is the lack of understanding and the lack of respect in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-griffin/my-biggest-problem-with-everything-going-on-is-the-lack-of/) [Blake Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-griffin/) > [“The wonderful world of human relationships is a rich mixture of backgrounds, perceptions, habits, preferences, behaviors, and motivators. These differences can create barriers to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/the-wonderful-world-of-human-relationships-is-a-rich-mixture-of/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [“The secularizing 'values' and events that have been predicted would happen in the Muslim world have now begun to unfold with increasing momentum and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syed-muhammad-naquib-al-attas/the-secularizing-values-and-events-that-have-been-predicted-would/) [Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syed-muhammad-naquib-al-attas/) > [Birds... scream at the top of their lungs in horrified hellish rage every morning at daybreak to warn us all of the truth. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/birds-scream-at-the-top-of-their-lungs-in-horrified-hellish-rage/) [Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/) > [Is my understanding only blindness to my own lack of understanding? It often seems so to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/is-my-understanding-only-blindness-to-my-own-lack-of-understanding-it/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [“The Tragedy isn't Autism - The Tragedy is the lack of understanding of Autism, Lack of resources, Interventions not being met with the person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-isaacs/the-tragedy-isn-t-autism-the-tragedy-is-the-lack-of-understanding-of/) [Paul Isaacs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-isaacs/) [Browse all 138 Lack of understanding quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lack-of-understanding/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“By lack of understanding they remained sane. They simply swallowed everything, and what they swallowed did them no harm, because it left no residue behind, just as a grain of corn will pass undigested through the body of a bird.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/by-lack-of-understanding-they-remained-sane-they-simply-swallowed/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lack of understanding" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/by-lack-of-understanding-they-remained-sane-they-simply-swallowed/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/george-orwell-57_lack-of-understandin_by-lack-of-understanding-they-remained-s_125763.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/george-orwell-57_lack-of-understandin_by-lack-of-understanding-they-remained-s_125763.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/george-orwell-57_lack-of-understandin_by-lack-of-understanding-they-remained-s_125763.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“By lack of understanding they remained sane. They simply swallowed everything, and what they swallowed did…” — George Orwell", "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": "George Orwell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“By lack of understanding they remained...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/by-lack-of-understanding-they-remained-sane-they-simply-swallowed/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/by-lack-of-understanding-they-remained-sane-they-simply-swallowed/#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 } } ] } ```