--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is certain, in any case, that…" description: "\"It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.\" — James A. Baldwin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a53/james-a-baldwin-2080_certain_it-is-certain-in-any-case-that-ignorance_2896209.jpg" --- # It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with… ![“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” quote by James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a53/james-a-baldwin-2080_certain_it-is-certain-in-any-case-that-ignorance_2896209.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a53/james-a-baldwin-2080_certain_it-is-certain-in-any-case-that-ignorance_2896209.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a53/james-a-baldwin-2080_certain_it-is-certain-in-any-case-that-ignorance_2896209.jpg) > “It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ignorance combined with power creates a formidable threat to justice, more dangerous than overt oppression. **In simple terms:** Powerful ignorance is a fierce enemy of justice. Key Takeaway Combat ignorance with knowledge and accountability. Themes justice power ignorance politics ethics Mood urgent serious reflective Type political social When to use this quote - educational reform - policy advocacy - public awareness campaigns Key Concepts enemy of justice knowledge gap authority abuse Questions to Reflect On - What role does education play in this battle? A Different Perspective How can societies prevent power from shielding ignorance? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) ## Related quotes > [Ask any Mexican, any Puerto Rican, any black man, any poor person - ask the wretched how they fare in the halls of justice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/ask-any-mexican-any-puerto-rican-any-black-man-any-poor-person-ask/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [“The clay of White Fang had been molded until he became what he was, morose and lonely, unloving and ferocious, the enemy of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/the-clay-of-white-fang-had-been-molded-until-he-became-what-he-was/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [I think hopelessness is the enemy of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/i-think-hopelessness-is-the-enemy-of-justice/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [The greatest enemy of justice is privilege.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/the-greatest-enemy-of-justice-is-privilege/) [Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/) > [“There is no greater enemy to justice than a little king on a little hill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delilah-s-dawson/there-is-no-greater-enemy-to-justice-than-a-little-king-on-a-little/) [Delilah S. Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delilah-s-dawson/) > [As priestcraft was always the enemy of knowledge, because priestcraft supports itself by keeping people in delusion and ignorance, it was consistent with its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/as-priestcraft-was-always-the-enemy-of-knowledge-because-priestcraft/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [It is never just disagreement but always intellectual dishonesty that is the apologist's worst enemy. And its apprentice is ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/it-is-never-just-disagreement-but-always-intellectual-dishonesty-that/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [... 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/) > [Ignorance is not bliss — it is oblivion. 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Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## More by James A. Baldwin > [One cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one's own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/one-cannot-deny-the-humanity-of-another-without-diminishing-one-s-own/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [All I know about music is that not many people ever really hear it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/all-i-know-about-music-is-that-not-many-people-ever-really-hear-it/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [I've always believed that you can think positive just as well as you can think negative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/i-ve-always-believed-that-you-can-think-positive-just-as-well-as-you/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [The white man discovered the Cross by way of the Bible, but the black man discovered the Bible by way of the Cross.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/the-white-man-discovered-the-cross-by-way-of-the-bible-but-the-black/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [The American ideal of sexuality appears to be rooted in the American ideal of masculinity. This idea has created cowboys and Indians, good guys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/the-american-ideal-of-sexuality-appears-to-be-rooted-in-the-american/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [Voyagers discover that the world can never be larger than the person that is in the world; but it is impossible to foresee this,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/voyagers-discover-that-the-world-can-never-be-larger-than-the-person/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [We take our shape, it is true, within and against that cage of reality bequeathed us at our birth; and yet it is precisely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/we-take-our-shape-it-is-true-within-and-against-that-cage-of-reality/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [The American ideal is, after all, that everyone should be as much alike as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/the-american-ideal-is-after-all-that-everyone-should-be-as-much-alike/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [James Joyce is right about history being a nightmare-- but it may be that nightmare from which no one can awaken. People are trapped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/james-joyce-is-right-about-history-being-a-nightmare-but-it-may-be/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [I think Americans are terrified of feeling anything. I never met a people more infantile in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/i-think-americans-are-terrified-of-feeling-anything-i-never-met-a/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [Unless a writer is extremely old when he dies, in which case he has probably become a neglected institution, his death must always be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/unless-a-writer-is-extremely-old-when-he-dies-in-which-case-he-has/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [An identity is questioned only when it is menaced, as when the mighty begin to fall, or when the wretched begin to rise, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/an-identity-is-questioned-only-when-it-is-menaced-as-when-the-mighty/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [White people will have quite enough to do in learning how to accept and love themselves and each other, and when they have achieved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/white-people-will-have-quite-enough-to-do-in-learning-how-to-accept/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [A devotion to humanity is... too easily equated with a devotion to a Cause, and Causes, as we know, are notoriously bloodthirsty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/a-devotion-to-humanity-is-too-easily-equated-with-a-devotion-to-a/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [Most people... find a disorientating mismatch between the long-term nature of their liabilities and the increasingly short-term nature of their assets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/most-people-find-a-disorientating-mismatch-between-the-long-term/) [James A. 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I transitioned into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-hough/i-started-out-dancing-on-a-reality-tv-show-but-always-with-the/) [Julianne Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-hough/) > [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/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/i-mean-those-people-who-are-interested-in-good-government-will/) [Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/) > [Why do we love certain homes, and why do they seem to love us? It is the warmth of our individual hearts reflected in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-robsjohn-gibbings/why-do-we-love-certain-homes-and-why-do-they-seem-to-love-us-it-is/) T. H. 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