--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's difficult to dispel arrogance if you…" description: "\"“It's difficult to dispel arrogance if you retain ignorance.”\" — Ken Burns" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff5/ken-burns-9897_arrogance_it-s-difficult-to-dispel-arrogance-if-yo_2707152.jpg" --- # It's difficult to dispel arrogance if you retain ignorance. ![“It's difficult to dispel arrogance if you retain ignorance.” quote by Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff5/ken-burns-9897_arrogance_it-s-difficult-to-dispel-arrogance-if-yo_2707152.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff5/ken-burns-9897_arrogance_it-s-difficult-to-dispel-arrogance-if-yo_2707152.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff5/ken-burns-9897_arrogance_it-s-difficult-to-dispel-arrogance-if-yo_2707152.jpg) > ““It's difficult to dispel arrogance if you retain ignorance.”” [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Arrogance persists when ignorance remains unaddressed, making humility hard to achieve. **In simple terms:** Ignorance fuels arrogance, hindering humility. Key Takeaway Seek knowledge to diminish arrogance. Themes arrogance ignorance humility learning Mood reflective serious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal growth - teaching - leadership - conflict resolution Key Concepts psychology education social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How can you confront your own ignorance? - What steps foster humility in others? A Different Perspective Ignorance can be stubborn despite education. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arrogance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogance/) [Arrogance Retain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogance-retain-2779255/) [Dispel Arrogance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dispel-arrogance-2779254/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pride/) [Retain Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/retain-ignorance-2779256/) ## Related quotes > [If your little savage were left to himself and be allowed to retain all his ignorance, he would in time join the infant's reasoning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/if-your-little-savage-were-left-to-himself-and-be-allowed-to-retain/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [Never mistake your arrogance for confidence and then let your ignorance become you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-quinlan/never-mistake-your-arrogance-for-confidence-and-then-let-your/) [Ryan Quinlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-quinlan/) > [“Knowing more than someone does not necessarily mean that you know every single thing they know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/knowing-more-than-someone-does-not-necessarily-mean-that-you-know/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“People who make up their minds about something never listen to advice - especially when it's to the contrary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/people-who-make-up-their-minds-about-something-never-listen-to-advice/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [An increasing number of people are growing uncomfortable with the gulf between the world's rich and the poor. Ostentatiously splashing your money around simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalle-lasn/an-increasing-number-of-people-are-growing-uncomfortable-with-the/) [Kalle Lasn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalle-lasn/) > [My success isn't a result of arrogance - it's a result of belief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-mcgregor/my-success-isn-t-a-result-of-arrogance-it-s-a-result-of-belief/) [Conor McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-mcgregor/) > [Closed some doors, not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because they no longer lead somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frenz-jeffrey/closed-some-doors-not-because-of-pride-incapacity-or-arrogance-but/) [Frenz Jeffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frenz-jeffrey/) > [Timing and arrogance are decisive factors in the successful use of talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-mannes/timing-and-arrogance-are-decisive-factors-in-the-successful-use-of/) [Marya Mannes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-mannes/) > [Arrogance is the outgrowth of prosperity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/arrogance-is-the-outgrowth-of-prosperity/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [“I was consumed by a selfishness and arrogance that I didn't dare let go of until I found a new persona to hide behind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-koomson/i-was-consumed-by-a-selfishness-and-arrogance-that-i-didn-t-dare-let/) [Dorothy Koomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-koomson/) > [Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/most-of-us-think-of-pride-as-self-centeredness-conceit-boastfulness/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [Never mistake someones quietness for their arrogance as you can surely miss out on an awsome personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-mistake-someones-quietness-for-their-arrogance-as-you-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't join the New Atheists. So, for example, I wouldn't have the arrogance to lecture some mother who hopes to see her dying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-don-t-join-the-new-atheists-so-for-example-i-wouldn-t-have-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [What you see of me on TV and all of that, that is me - that's truly how I feel. I'm just multiplying it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-corbin/what-you-see-of-me-on-tv-and-all-of-that-that-is-me-that-s-truly-how/) [Baron Corbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-corbin/) ## More by Ken Burns > [Good history is a question of survival. Without any past, we will deprive ourselves of the defining impression of our being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/good-history-is-a-question-of-survival-without-any-past-we-will/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [Write: write letters. Keep journals. Besides your children, there is no surer way of achieving immortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/write-write-letters-keep-journals-besides-your-children-there-is-no/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [By its very nature, no one person can ever be the center of Jazz.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/by-its-very-nature-no-one-person-can-ever-be-the-center-of-jazz/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It's our great contribution to the arts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/the-genius-of-our-country-is-improvisation-and-jazz-reflects-that-it/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [The reason why you do history, and particularly why you do war, is that you want to make sure that in the next war,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/the-reason-why-you-do-history-and-particularly-why-you-do-war-is-that/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [In a sense I've made the same film over and over again. In all of them I've asked, 'Who are we as Americans?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/in-a-sense-i-ve-made-the-same-film-over-and-over-again-in-all-of-them/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what we're lead to is a life not fully lived.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/i-think-we-too-often-make-choices-based-on-the-safety-of-cynicism-and/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [Louis Armstrong is quite simply the most important person in American music. He is to 20th century music (I did not say jazz) what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/louis-armstrong-is-quite-simply-the-most-important-person-in-american/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [People tend to forget that the word "history" contains the word "story".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/people-tend-to-forget-that-the-word-history-contains-the-word-story/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [History isn't really about the past - settling old scores. It's about defining the present and who we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/history-isn-t-really-about-the-past-settling-old-scores-it-s-about/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [We strain to listen to the ghosts and echoes of our inexpressibly wise past, and we have an obligation to maintain these places, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/we-strain-to-listen-to-the-ghosts-and-echoes-of-our-inexpressibly/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [It follows the seasons, beginning each year with the fond expectancy of springtime and ending with the hard facts of autumn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/it-follows-the-seasons-beginning-each-year-with-the-fond-expectancy/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [“Jackie Robinson stole home and he's safe."...Nobody could hurt him again. He wouldn't hear the name-calling. He would only hear the cheers and somehow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/jackie-robinson-stole-home-and-he-s-safe-nobody-could-hurt-him-again/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [I can understand why some of these drummers and bass players become cult figures with all of their equipment and the incredible amount of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/i-can-understand-why-some-of-these-drummers-and-bass-players-become/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [You know, you meet some people, and do a lot of interviews, and you come across a Buck O'Neill and you know you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/you-know-you-meet-some-people-and-do-a-lot-of-interviews-and-you-come/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) [Explore all 69 Ken Burns quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) ## More Arrogance quotes > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [wishes for sons by Lucille Clifton i wish them cramps. i wish them a strange town and the last tampon. I wish them no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/wishes-for-sons-by-lucille-clifton-i-wish-them-cramps-i-wish-them-a/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [The structure of the Swiss ruling class is rock-hard, and unchanged since the time of Napoleon. They sit on their mountains and lecture the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-ziegler/the-structure-of-the-swiss-ruling-class-is-rock-hard-and-unchanged/) [Jean Ziegler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-ziegler/) > [What you see of me on TV and all of that, that is me - that's truly how I feel. I'm just multiplying it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-corbin/what-you-see-of-me-on-tv-and-all-of-that-that-is-me-that-s-truly-how/) [Baron Corbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-corbin/) > [I don't join the New Atheists. So, for example, I wouldn't have the arrogance to lecture some mother who hopes to see her dying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-don-t-join-the-new-atheists-so-for-example-i-wouldn-t-have-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Never mistake someones quietness for their arrogance as you can surely miss out on an awsome personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-mistake-someones-quietness-for-their-arrogance-as-you-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/most-of-us-think-of-pride-as-self-centeredness-conceit-boastfulness/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [“I was consumed by a selfishness and arrogance that I didn't dare let go of until I found a new persona to hide behind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-koomson/i-was-consumed-by-a-selfishness-and-arrogance-that-i-didn-t-dare-let/) [Dorothy Koomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-koomson/) > [Arrogance is the outgrowth of prosperity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/arrogance-is-the-outgrowth-of-prosperity/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [Timing and arrogance are decisive factors in the successful use of talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-mannes/timing-and-arrogance-are-decisive-factors-in-the-successful-use-of/) [Marya Mannes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-mannes/) > [Some say work smarter, not harder, but the wisest are both. Whether you're more of a hard worker or a smart worker, if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colby-tatem/some-say-work-smarter-not-harder-but-the-wisest-are-both-whether-you/) [Colby Tatem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colby-tatem/) > [Closed some doors, not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because they no longer lead somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frenz-jeffrey/closed-some-doors-not-because-of-pride-incapacity-or-arrogance-but/) [Frenz Jeffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frenz-jeffrey/) > [My success isn't a result of arrogance - it's a result of belief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-mcgregor/my-success-isn-t-a-result-of-arrogance-it-s-a-result-of-belief/) [Conor McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-mcgregor/) > [“...a great man who is vicious will only be a great doer of evil, and a rich man who is not liberal will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-cervantes/a-great-man-who-is-vicious-will-only-be-a-great-doer-of-evil-and-a/) [Miguel Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-cervantes/) > [An increasing number of people are growing uncomfortable with the gulf between the world's rich and the poor. Ostentatiously splashing your money around simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalle-lasn/an-increasing-number-of-people-are-growing-uncomfortable-with-the/) [Kalle Lasn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalle-lasn/) [Browse all 1,418 Arrogance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It's difficult to dispel arrogance if you retain ignorance.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ken Burns" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/it-s-difficult-to-dispel-arrogance-if-you-retain-ignorance/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Arrogance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/it-s-difficult-to-dispel-arrogance-if-you-retain-ignorance/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff5/ken-burns-9897_arrogance_it-s-difficult-to-dispel-arrogance-if-yo_2707152.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff5/ken-burns-9897_arrogance_it-s-difficult-to-dispel-arrogance-if-yo_2707152.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff5/ken-burns-9897_arrogance_it-s-difficult-to-dispel-arrogance-if-yo_2707152.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's difficult to dispel arrogance if you retain ignorance.” — Ken Burns", "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": "Ken Burns", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It's difficult to dispel arrogance if...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/it-s-difficult-to-dispel-arrogance-if-you-retain-ignorance/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/it-s-difficult-to-dispel-arrogance-if-you-retain-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 } } ] } ```