--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do not understand a man who does not…" description: "\"“I do not understand a man who does not want to know all that he can know. Why would anyone choose ignorance? If he chooses ignorance because he is lay..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/kate-horsley-36400_ignorance_i-do-not-understand-a-man-who-does-not-w_1912590.jpg" --- # I do not understand a man who does not want to know all… ![“I do not understand a man who does not want to know all that he can know. Why would anyone choose ignorance? If he chooses ignorance because he is lay, then he is a fool, for the ignorant are put to hard labor digging and hauling stones for masters who tell them they need no knowledge. If a man…” quote by Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/kate-horsley-36400_ignorance_i-do-not-understand-a-man-who-does-not-w_1912590.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/kate-horsley-36400_ignorance_i-do-not-understand-a-man-who-does-not-w_1912590.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/kate-horsley-36400_ignorance_i-do-not-understand-a-man-who-does-not-w_1912590.jpg) > ““I do not understand a man who does not want to know all that he can know. Why would anyone choose ignorance? If he chooses ignorance because he is lay, then he is a fool, for the ignorant are put to hard labor digging and hauling stones for masters who tell them they need no knowledge. If a man must labor from dawn to dusk to avoid a blow on the head and to earn a cup of grain, he has no time to gain knowledge and remains a slave to masters. I think, therefore, that is is a worthy vocation to free a man enough that he can learn who he is and what he is capable of, where he came from and what philosophies steer his life.”” [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeking knowledge frees individuals from oppression and enables self‑determination. **In simple terms:** Learning liberates. Key Takeaway Pursue education to gain autonomy. Themes education freedom self‑knowledge Mood determined inspirational Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - personal development - social reform - career advancement Key Concepts philosophy social justice Questions to Reflect On - What barriers prevent you from learning? - How can you support others' education? A Different Perspective Ignorance may be a survival strategy for some. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choose Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choose-ignorance-2888427/) [Chooses Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chooses-ignorance-2888426/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance Chooses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-chooses-2888428/) [Ignorance Lay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-lay-2888429/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Man enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-enough/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) ## Related quotes > [A man remains ignorant because he loves ignorance, and chooses ignorant thoughts; a man becomes wise because he loves wisdom and chooses wise thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/a-man-remains-ignorant-because-he-loves-ignorance-and-chooses/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) > [“We choose ignorance because we can . We choose awareness because we can . Samsara and nirvana are simply different points of view based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yongey-mingyur-rinpoche/we-choose-ignorance-because-we-can-we-choose-awareness-because-we-can/) [Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yongey-mingyur-rinpoche/) > [“I promised in my head to leave you be. And when I saw you…I was supposed to be man enough to turn you away.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/i-promised-in-my-head-to-leave-you-be-and-when-i-saw-you-i-was/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [The believer is sensible of his infirmities, for it is supposed that he is wrestling under them. He sees, he feels, that he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boston/the-believer-is-sensible-of-his-infirmities-for-it-is-supposed-that/) [Thomas Boston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boston/) > [I'm just going to be honest with you. It's hard to go out there and fight for 60 minutes when you're fighting throughout the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-just-going-to-be-honest-with-you-it-s-hard-to-go-out-there-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When you do what I do for a living you have to have a positive mental attitude; when that positive mental attitude isn't enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evel-knievel/when-you-do-what-i-do-for-a-living-you-have-to-have-a-positive-mental/) [Evel Knievel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evel-knievel/) > [“I have a face I cannot show I make the rules up as I go It's a try to love me if you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-a-face-i-cannot-show-i-make-the-rules-up-as-i-go-it-s-a-try-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If your man enough to knock her up. You better be man enough to support the child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa/if-your-man-enough-to-knock-her-up-you-better-be-man-enough-to/) [Vanessa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa/) > [A man can wear pink if he has confidence, if he believes in himself and knows he's man enough to do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clinton-portis/a-man-can-wear-pink-if-he-has-confidence-if-he-believes-in-himself/) [Clinton Portis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clinton-portis/) > [I never hated a man enough to give him diamonds back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zsa-zsa-gabor/i-never-hated-a-man-enough-to-give-him-diamonds-back/) [Zsa Zsa Gabor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zsa-zsa-gabor/) > [No Women hated a man enough to give him his diamonds back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/km-ii/no-women-hated-a-man-enough-to-give-him-his-diamonds-back/) [KM II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/km-ii/) > [“Her stories were going to randomly come out. He had to be man enough to listen to them. It was part of carrying her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-levine/her-stories-were-going-to-randomly-come-out-he-had-to-be-man-enough/) [Elaine Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-levine/) > [I'm man enough to know when to scream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/obert-skye/i-m-man-enough-to-know-when-to-scream/) [Obert Skye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/obert-skye/) > [“Do I look human enough to pass in the day?" "Yes, Suze. You do if you're looking to be a bouncer at a strip…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emi-gayle/do-i-look-human-enough-to-pass-in-the-day-yes-suze-you-do-if-you-re/) [Emi Gayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emi-gayle/) > [“He’s changed?” “Yes. He’s started hanging out with a different crowd, a richer crowd. The men are all so arrogant. They don’t doubt themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-cooperman/he-s-changed-yes-he-s-started-hanging-out-with-a-different-crowd-a/) [Kathy Cooperman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-cooperman/) ## More by Kate Horsley > [Use words to please, to instruct, to soothe. Then stop speaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/use-words-to-please-to-instruct-to-soothe-then-stop-speaking/) [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) > [“Power does not willingly give up its place to truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/power-does-not-willingly-give-up-its-place-to-truth/) [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) > [“But I knew that I would have to live forever with what I did on that night of dying, and that if I chose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/but-i-knew-that-i-would-have-to-live-forever-with-what-i-did-on-that/) [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) > [Teaching is a sacred art. This is why the noblest druid is not the one who conjures fires and smoke but the one who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/teaching-is-a-sacred-art-this-is-why-the-noblest-druid-is-not-the-one/) [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) > [Among all the wisdom and facts I learned from Giannon, I also learned the loneliness of incarnation, in which there is inevitably a separation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/among-all-the-wisdom-and-facts-i-learned-from-giannon-i-also-learned/) [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) > [“Beauty and perfection do not guarantee grace and fulfillment and are always sacrificed. Life itself seems a ritual of sacrifice, and the world the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/beauty-and-perfection-do-not-guarantee-grace-and-fulfillment-and-are/) [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) > [It is better to listen to a crow that lives in trees than to a learned man who lives only in ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/it-is-better-to-listen-to-a-crow-that-lives-in-trees-than-to-a/) [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) > [Knowledge often spoils devotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/knowledge-often-spoils-devotion/) [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) > [“Perhaps it is weariness that causes seers not to act on what they see; for whereas the wisdom of the world can be vast,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/perhaps-it-is-weariness-that-causes-seers-not-to-act-on-what-they-see/) [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) > [It is noble to pity a man who is cruel because he is weak, but it is idiotic and dangerous to allow him to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/it-is-noble-to-pity-a-man-who-is-cruel-because-he-is-weak-but-it-is/) [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) > [“I learned regret in the ruins of Tarbfhlaith. I regretted that ambition had ruled my heart instead of affection for my kin. And with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/i-learned-regret-in-the-ruins-of-tarbfhlaith-i-regretted-that/) [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) > [I would live in a world of Christ-like humans, but not one full of Christians, may God forgive me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/i-would-live-in-a-world-of-christ-like-humans-but-not-one-full-of/) [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) [Explore all 13 Kate Horsley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) ## 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": "“I do not understand a man who does not want to know all that he can know. Why would anyone choose ignorance? If he chooses ignorance because he is lay, then he is a fool, for the ignorant are put to hard labor digging and hauling stones for masters who tell them they need no knowledge. If a man must labor from dawn to dusk to avoid a blow on the head and to earn a cup of grain, he has no time to gain knowledge and remains a slave to masters. I think, therefore, that is is a worthy vocation to free a man enough that he can learn who he is and what he is capable of, where he came from and what philosophies steer his life.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kate Horsley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/i-do-not-understand-a-man-who-does-not-want-to-know-all-that-he-can/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ignorance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/i-do-not-understand-a-man-who-does-not-want-to-know-all-that-he-can/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/kate-horsley-36400_ignorance_i-do-not-understand-a-man-who-does-not-w_1912590.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/kate-horsley-36400_ignorance_i-do-not-understand-a-man-who-does-not-w_1912590.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/kate-horsley-36400_ignorance_i-do-not-understand-a-man-who-does-not-w_1912590.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I do not understand a man who does not want to know all that he can know. Why would anyone choose ignorance?…” — Kate Horsley", "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": "Kate Horsley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I do not understand a man...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/i-do-not-understand-a-man-who-does-not-want-to-know-all-that-he-can/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/i-do-not-understand-a-man-who-does-not-want-to-know-all-that-he-can/#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 } } ] } ```