--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our lives are universally shortened by…" description: "\"Our lives are universally shortened by our ignorance.\" — Herbert Spencer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34a/herbert-spencer-1765_ignorance_our-lives-are-universally-shortened-by-o_2579747.jpg" --- # Our lives are universally shortened by our ignorance. ![“Our lives are universally shortened by our ignorance.” quote by Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34a/herbert-spencer-1765_ignorance_our-lives-are-universally-shortened-by-o_2579747.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34a/herbert-spencer-1765_ignorance_our-lives-are-universally-shortened-by-o_2579747.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34a/herbert-spencer-1765_ignorance_our-lives-are-universally-shortened-by-o_2579747.jpg) > “Our lives are universally shortened by our ignorance.” [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ignorance shortens life by limiting understanding and choices. **In simple terms:** Ignorance reduces lifespan. Key Takeaway Seek knowledge continuously. Themes ignorance lifespan learning Mood reflective serious Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - education - career planning - health decisions Key Concepts Epistemology human development Questions to Reflect On - What knowledge could extend your life? - How do you combat personal ignorance? A Different Perspective May overstate causal link. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Lives Universally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lives-universally-1766933/) [Our lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-lives/) [Shortened Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shortened-ignorance-1766931/) [Universally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universally/) [Universally Shortened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universally-shortened-1766932/) ## Related quotes > [Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/of-all-of-our-inventions-for-mass-communication-pictures-still-speak/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [A universal sound is about having everybody be able to relate to it whether you're in New York, LA, London or Australia. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario/a-universal-sound-is-about-having-everybody-be-able-to-relate-to-it/) [Mario](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario/) > [I've got a feeling that with the best coppers - and in fact the best people in any field of work - what sets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-stott/i-ve-got-a-feeling-that-with-the-best-coppers-and-in-fact-the-best/) [Ken Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-stott/) > [It's always more interesting to make a movie about what is relevant in your society. What's the political global backdrop? What are our threats?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-butler/it-s-always-more-interesting-to-make-a-movie-about-what-is-relevant/) [Gerard Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-butler/) > [Once you've been on tour six, seven years, you get an idea of what works and what doesn't work universally. There will be some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupe-fiasco/once-you-ve-been-on-tour-six-seven-years-you-get-an-idea-of-what/) [Lupe Fiasco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupe-fiasco/) > [I've always wanted to make some kind of music that was universally appreciated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wilson/i-ve-always-wanted-to-make-some-kind-of-music-that-was-universally/) [Steven Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wilson/) > [ There is no other article for individual use so universally known or widely distributed. In my travels I have found \[the safety razor\] in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/king-c-gillette/there-is-no-other-article-for-individual-use-so-universally-known-or/) [King C. Gillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/king-c-gillette/) > [The United States is too big and we are too involved with too many people for any president to be able to take actions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/the-united-states-is-too-big-and-we-are-too-involved-with-too-many/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [I think it's important that 'Star Wars' characters speak universally, to kids and to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-filoni/i-think-it-s-important-that-star-wars-characters-speak-universally-to/) [Dave Filoni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-filoni/) > [“Whisky was almost universally used.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ketcham/whisky-was-almost-universally-used/) [Henry Ketcham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ketcham/) > [Rejection is a universally embarrassing topic and 'Electra Heart' is my response to that. It is a frank album.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-and-the-diamonds/rejection-is-a-universally-embarrassing-topic-and-electra-heart-is-my/) [Marina and the Diamonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-and-the-diamonds/) > [“while an adult could rarely be universally loved, everyone could love the right kid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/while-an-adult-could-rarely-be-universally-loved-everyone-could-love/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [The morality of scholarship, as currently practiced, is to encourage everyone to replace difficult pleasures by pleasures universally accessible precisely because they are easier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/the-morality-of-scholarship-as-currently-practiced-is-to-encourage/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [I'm really excited about anything that is able to address the really big markets, so anything that's universally appealing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-andreessen/i-m-really-excited-about-anything-that-is-able-to-address-the-really/) [Marc Andreessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-andreessen/) > [The year 2100 will see eugenics universally established. In past ages, the law governing the survival of the fittest roughly weeded out the less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/the-year-2100-will-see-eugenics-universally-established-in-past-ages/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) ## More by Herbert Spencer > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Any piece of knowledge which the pupil has himself acquired- any problem which he has himself solved, becomes, by virtue of the conquest, much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/any-piece-of-knowledge-which-the-pupil-has-himself-acquired-any/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Conservatism defends those coercive arrangements which a still-lingering savageness makes requisite. Radicalism endeavours to realize a state more in harmony with the character of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/conservatism-defends-those-coercive-arrangements-which-a-still/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Absolute morality is the regulation of conduct in such a way that pain shall not be inflicted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/absolute-morality-is-the-regulation-of-conduct-in-such-a-way-that/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [When a man's knowledge is not in order, the more of it he has the greater will be his confusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/when-a-man-s-knowledge-is-not-in-order-the-more-of-it-he-has-the/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [The cruelty of a Fijian god, who, represented as devouring the souls of the dead, may be supposed to inflict torture during the process,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/the-cruelty-of-a-fijian-god-who-represented-as-devouring-the-souls-of/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [The liberty the citizen enjoys is to be measured not by governmental machinery he lives under, whether representative or other, but by the paucity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/the-liberty-the-citizen-enjoys-is-to-be-measured-not-by-governmental/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [I had a great dislike to the annoyances entailed by baggage; and it was always with some feeling of elation that I cut myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/i-had-a-great-dislike-to-the-annoyances-entailed-by-baggage-and-it/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a necessity…It is a part of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/progress-therefore-is-not-an-accident-but-a-necessity-it-is-a-part-of/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Surely in much talk there cannot choose but be much vanity. Loquacity is the fistula of the mind,--ever-running and almost incurable, let every man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/surely-in-much-talk-there-cannot-choose-but-be-much-vanity-loquacity/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [No one can be perfectly free till all are free; no one can be perfectly moral till all are moral; no one can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-one-can-be-perfectly-free-till-all-are-free-no-one-can-be/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Only when Genius is married to Science can the highest results be produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/only-when-genius-is-married-to-science-can-the-highest-results-be/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [It cannot but happen?that those will survive whose functions happen to be most nearly in equilibrium with the modified aggregate of external forces? This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/it-cannot-but-happen-that-those-will-survive-whose-functions-happen/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [“Before he can remake his society, his society must make him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/before-he-can-remake-his-society-his-society-must-make-him/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) [Explore all 210 Herbert Spencer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) ## 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": "Our lives are universally shortened by our ignorance.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Herbert Spencer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/our-lives-are-universally-shortened-by-our-ignorance/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ignorance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/our-lives-are-universally-shortened-by-our-ignorance/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34a/herbert-spencer-1765_ignorance_our-lives-are-universally-shortened-by-o_2579747.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34a/herbert-spencer-1765_ignorance_our-lives-are-universally-shortened-by-o_2579747.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34a/herbert-spencer-1765_ignorance_our-lives-are-universally-shortened-by-o_2579747.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our lives are universally shortened by our ignorance.” — Herbert Spencer", "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": "Herbert Spencer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Our lives are universally shortened by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/our-lives-are-universally-shortened-by-our-ignorance/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/our-lives-are-universally-shortened-by-our-ignorance/#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 } } ] } ```