--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is an unfortunate fact that every man…" description: "\"It is an unfortunate fact that every man who seeks to disseminate knowledge must contend not only against ignorance itself, but against false instructi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e7/h-p-lovecraft-1408_darkness_it-is-an-unfortunate-fact-that-every-man_2844968.png" --- # It is an unfortunate fact that every man who seeks to… ![“It is an unfortunate fact that every man who seeks to disseminate knowledge must contend not only against ignorance itself, but against false instruction as well. No sooner do we deem ourselves free from a particularly gross superstition, than we are confronted by some enemy to learning who would…” quote by H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e7/h-p-lovecraft-1408_darkness_it-is-an-unfortunate-fact-that-every-man_2844968.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e7/h-p-lovecraft-1408_darkness_it-is-an-unfortunate-fact-that-every-man_2844968.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e7/h-p-lovecraft-1408_darkness_it-is-an-unfortunate-fact-that-every-man_2844968.png) > “It is an unfortunate fact that every man who seeks to disseminate knowledge must contend not only against ignorance itself, but against false instruction as well. No sooner do we deem ourselves free from a particularly gross superstition, than we are confronted by some enemy to learning who would set aside all the intellectual progress of years, and plunge us back into the darkness of mediaeval disbelief.” [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Knowledge spreads while battling both ignorance and deliberate misinformation, which can reverse progress. **In simple terms:** Fight ignorance and misinformation. Key Takeaway Guard against false teachings. Themes knowledge ignorance misinformation Mood cautionary analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education reform - media literacy - academic research Key Concepts epistemology critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - What strategies counteract false instruction? - How can societies protect intellectual progress? A Different Perspective Misinformation can be entrenched and hard to eradicate. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contend Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contend-ignorance-3752238/) [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Disbelief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disbelief/) [Disseminate Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disseminate-knowledge-1938966/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Every man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-man/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Gross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gross/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance False](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-false-731488/) [Instruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instruction/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Knowledge Contend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge-contend-1863767/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Plunge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plunge/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Superstitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superstitions/) [Unfortunate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unfortunate/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [All definite knowledge - so I should contend - belongs to science; all dogma as to what surpasses definite knowledge belongs to theology. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/all-definite-knowledge-so-i-should-contend-belongs-to-science-all/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [I have always liked the idea of going to print because a big part of what we are about is to disseminate knowledge throughout…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-wales/i-have-always-liked-the-idea-of-going-to-print-because-a-big-part-of/) [Jimmy Wales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-wales/) > [The university and in a general way, all teaching systems, which appear simply to disseminate knowledge, are made to maintain a certain social class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-university-and-in-a-general-way-all-teaching-systems-which-appear/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [The criminal misuse of time was pointing out the mistakes. Catching them―noticing them―that was essential. If you did not in your own mind distinguish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/the-criminal-misuse-of-time-was-pointing-out-the-mistakes-catching/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The scientist who yields anything to theology, however slight, is yielding to ignorance and false pretenses, and as certainly as if he granted that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-scientist-who-yields-anything-to-theology-however-slight-is/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [If you did not in your own mind distinguish between useful and erroneous information, then you were not learning at all, you were merely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/if-you-did-not-in-your-own-mind-distinguish-between-useful-and/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [What is love? There is nothing in the world, neither man nor Devil nor any thing, that I hold as suspect as love, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/what-is-love-there-is-nothing-in-the-world-neither-man-nor-devil-nor/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [Hold to the now, the here, through which all future plunges to the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/hold-to-the-now-the-here-through-which-all-future-plunges-to-the-past/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Human history, like all great movements, was cyclical, and returned to the point of beginning. The idea of indefinite progress in a right line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/human-history-like-all-great-movements-was-cyclical-and-returned-to/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Blood fills my mouth. Fire sears my veins. I choke back a howl. The silver knife slips--the choice is mine. I am death or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bree-despain/blood-fills-my-mouth-fire-sears-my-veins-i-choke-back-a-howl-the/) [Bree Despain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bree-despain/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [At my death paint my body with red paint and plunge it into fresh water to be restored back to life, otherwise my bones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crazy-horse/at-my-death-paint-my-body-with-red-paint-and-plunge-it-into-fresh/) [Crazy Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crazy-horse/) > [Poetry is like walking along a little, tiny, narrow ridge up on a precipice. You never know the next step, whether there's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-jacobsen/poetry-is-like-walking-along-a-little-tiny-narrow-ridge-up-on-a/) [Josephine Jacobsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-jacobsen/) > [There is no passion in nature so demoniacally impatient, as that of him who, shuddering upon the edge of a precipice, thus meditates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/there-is-no-passion-in-nature-so-demoniacally-impatient-as-that-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) ## More by H. P. Lovecraft > [It is the night-black Massachusetts legendry which packs the really macabre "kick". Here is material for a really profound study in group-neuroticism; for certainly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-is-the-night-black-massachusetts-legendry-which-packs-the-really/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [“Sounds—possibly musical—heard in the night from other worlds or realms of being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/sounds-possibly-musical-heard-in-the-night-from-other-worlds-or/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Very few minds are strictly normal, and all religious fanatics are marked with abnormalities of various sorts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/very-few-minds-are-strictly-normal-and-all-religious-fanatics-are/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [It's not a bad idea to call this Cthulhuism & Yog-Sothothery of mine "The Mythology of Hastur" - although it was really from Machen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-s-not-a-bad-idea-to-call-this-cthulhuism-yog-sothothery-of-mine/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/the-appeal-of-the-spectrally-macabre-is-generally-narrow-because-it/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [There are probably seven persons, in all, who really like my work; and they are enough. I should write even if I were the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/there-are-probably-seven-persons-in-all-who-really-like-my-work-and/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Nothing is really typical of my efforts... I'm simply casting about for better ways to crystallise and capture certain strong impressions (involving the elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/nothing-is-really-typical-of-my-efforts-i-m-simply-casting-about-for/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Thus I began my systematic though half-bewildered tour of Innsmouth's narrow, shadow-blighted ways. Crossing the bridge and turning toward the roar of the lower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/thus-i-began-my-systematic-though-half-bewildered-tour-of-innsmouth-s/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Of what use is it to please the herd? They are simply coarse animals - for all that is admirable in man is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/of-what-use-is-it-to-please-the-herd-they-are-simply-coarse-animals/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [“How little does the earth self know life and its extent! How little, indeed, ought it to know for its own tranquility!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/how-little-does-the-earth-self-know-life-and-its-extent-how-little/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [The trees grew too thickly, and their trunks were too big for any healthy New England wood. There was too much silence in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/the-trees-grew-too-thickly-and-their-trunks-were-too-big-for-any/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Plots may be simple or complex, but suspense, and climactic progress from one incident to another, are essential. Every incident in a fictional work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/plots-may-be-simple-or-complex-but-suspense-and-climactic-progress/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/searchers-after-horror-haunt-strange-far-places/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Cosmic terror appears as an ingredient of the earliest folklore of all races and is crystallised in the most archaic ballads, chronicles, and sacred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/cosmic-terror-appears-as-an-ingredient-of-the-earliest-folklore-of/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Truth is of no practical value to mankind save as it affects terrestrial phenomena, hence the discoveries of science should be concealed or glossed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/truth-is-of-no-practical-value-to-mankind-save-as-it-affects/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) [Explore all 244 H. P. Lovecraft quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) ## More Darkness quotes > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What does he look like? The question was soft- tentative. I knew who he meant. I interlaced my fingers through Rhysand's and squeezed tightly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/what-does-he-look-like-the-question-was-soft-tentative-i-knew-who-he/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [“Life is like coffee, the darker it gets, the more it energizes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankita-singhal/life-is-like-coffee-the-darker-it-gets-the-more-it-energizes/) [Ankita Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankita-singhal/) > [Twinking tears in a sea of black. Soft light in a world of darkness. Tiny wishes in a place of dreams. Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/) [Nicole Gentile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-gentile/) [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is an unfortunate fact that every man who seeks to disseminate knowledge must contend not only against ignorance itself, but against false instruction as well. No sooner do we deem ourselves free from a particularly gross superstition, than we are confronted by some enemy to learning who would set aside all the intellectual progress of years, and plunge us back into the darkness of mediaeval disbelief.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. P. Lovecraft" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-is-an-unfortunate-fact-that-every-man-who-seeks-to-disseminate/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Darkness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-is-an-unfortunate-fact-that-every-man-who-seeks-to-disseminate/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e7/h-p-lovecraft-1408_darkness_it-is-an-unfortunate-fact-that-every-man_2844968.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e7/h-p-lovecraft-1408_darkness_it-is-an-unfortunate-fact-that-every-man_2844968.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e7/h-p-lovecraft-1408_darkness_it-is-an-unfortunate-fact-that-every-man_2844968.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is an unfortunate fact that every man who seeks to disseminate knowledge must contend not only against…” — H. P. Lovecraft", "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": "H. P. Lovecraft", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is an unfortunate fact that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-is-an-unfortunate-fact-that-every-man-who-seeks-to-disseminate/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-is-an-unfortunate-fact-that-every-man-who-seeks-to-disseminate/#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 } } ] } ```