---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: now he knew that there were communities…"
description: "\"“now he knew that there were communities everywhere, sprinkled across the vast landscape of the known world, in which people suffered. Not always from ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/lois-lowry-978_ignorance_now-he-knew-that-there-were-communities_326164.jpg"
---

#  now he knew that there were communities everywhere…

![“now he knew that there were communities everywhere, sprinkled across the vast landscape of the known world, in which people suffered. Not always from beatings and hunger, the way he had. But from ignorance. From not knowing. From being kept from knowledge.” quote by Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/lois-lowry-978_ignorance_now-he-knew-that-there-were-communities_326164.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/lois-lowry-978_ignorance_now-he-knew-that-there-were-communities_326164.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/lois-lowry-978_ignorance_now-he-knew-that-there-were-communities_326164.jpg)

> ““now he knew that there were communities everywhere, sprinkled across the vast landscape of the known world, in which people suffered. Not always from beatings and hunger, the way he had. But from ignorance. From not knowing. From being kept from knowledge.””

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Ignorance spreads when people are denied knowledge, causing suffering beyond physical hardship.

**In simple terms:** Lack of knowledge hurts people.

Key Takeaway

Promote access to information.

Themes

education knowledge suffering

Mood

thoughtful concerned

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- schools
- remote communities
- policy making
- media consumption

Key Concepts

information inequality social justice

Questions to Reflect On

- How can we combat misinformation?
- What barriers block learning?

A Different Perspective

Changing beliefs can be slow and contested.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-knowing-1159610/) [Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knew/) [Knew Communities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knew-communities-3063352/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Known World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/known-world-2677883/) [People Suffered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-suffered-268777/)

## Related quotes

> [“People who were only ever half right about things drove me mad. I hated the flood of opinion, the certainty, the easy talk about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/people-who-were-only-ever-half-right-about-things-drove-me-mad-i/)

[Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/)

> [There is simple ignorance, not knowing, and willful ignorance that refuses to know, that covers the light of knowledge with the dark blanket of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/there-is-simple-ignorance-not-knowing-and-willful-ignorance-that/)

[Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/)

> [Ignorance is not, not knowing something. It is knowing what isn't so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/ignorance-is-not-not-knowing-something-it-is-knowing-what-isn-t-so/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [You can stay in the safe, secure oblivion and pain of ignorance, not knowing, and just die. You'll just die, like everyone else, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-stay-in-the-safe-secure-oblivion-and-pain-of-ignorance-not/)

[Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

> [“In that etymological light nostalgia seems something like the pain of ignorance, of not knowing. You are far away, and I don’t know what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/in-that-etymological-light-nostalgia-seems-something-like-the-pain-of/)

[Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/)

> [A man is never astonished that he doesn't know what another does, but he is surprised at the gross ignorance of the other in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-is-never-astonished-that-he-doesn-t-know-what-another-does-but/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Ignorance" is NOT not knowing the facts, it's not willing to know when the fact are shown to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-anna-van-driel/ignorance-is-not-not-knowing-the-facts-it-s-not-willing-to-know-when/)

[Maria Anna van Driel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-anna-van-driel/)

> [“...Nostalgia seems something like the pain of ignorance, of not knowing. You are far away, and I don't know what has become of you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/nostalgia-seems-something-like-the-pain-of-ignorance-of-not-knowing/)

[Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/)

> [Or hast thou known the world so long in vain?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/or-hast-thou-known-the-world-so-long-in-vain/)

[John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/)

> [Mexico is known throughout the world thanks to mariachi.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-gabriel/mexico-is-known-throughout-the-world-thanks-to-mariachi/)

[Juan Gabriel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-gabriel/)

> [“He had not known a world that did not have her in it. Yet now he was going to discover just that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-k-p-o-neill/he-had-not-known-a-world-that-did-not-have-her-in-it-yet-now-he-was/)

[Shane K.P. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-k-p-o-neill/)

> [I'm known all over the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divine/i-m-known-all-over-the-world/)

[Divine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divine/)

> [I don't want this to come out the wrong way, but in the '60s and '70s, I don't know anybody who was known around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-sammartino/i-don-t-want-this-to-come-out-the-wrong-way-but-in-the-60s-and-70s-i/)

[Bruno Sammartino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-sammartino/)

> [ \[Mitt\] Romney looks the part and is well known around the world and has a lot of experience. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-mitchell/mitt-romney-looks-the-part-and-is-well-known-around-the-world-and-has/)

[Andrea Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-mitchell/)

> [“I have never been out of my own land before. And if I had known what the world outside was like, I don’t think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/i-have-never-been-out-of-my-own-land-before-and-if-i-had-known-what/)

[J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/)

## More by Lois Lowry

> [“She's sure, absolutely sure, that what she's waiting for will happen, just the way she wants it to; and I'm so uncertain, so fearful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/she-s-sure-absolutely-sure-that-what-she-s-waiting-for-will-happen/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [I've always been interested in medicine and was pleased when my brother became a doctor. But after thinking seriously about that field, I realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-medicine-and-was-pleased-when-my/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [“The important thing is that another medium—stage, film, music—doesn’t obliterate a book. The movie is here now, on a big screen, with stars and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/the-important-thing-is-that-another-medium-stage-film-music-doesn-t/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [Pretending that there are no choices to be made - reading only books, for example, which are cheery and safe and nice - is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/pretending-that-there-are-no-choices-to-be-made-reading-only-books/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [They were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on. And he was angry at himself, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/they-were-satisfied-with-their-lives-which-had-none-of-the-vibrance/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [Nowadays it seems as though people sit down to write what they know is going to be a trilogy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/nowadays-it-seems-as-though-people-sit-down-to-write-what-they-know/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [“Take your pride in your pain. You are stronger than those who have none.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/take-your-pride-in-your-pain-you-are-stronger-than-those-who-have-none/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [“Sometimes we have to hurt people, in order to keep ourselves whole. We must just do it with love, that's all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/sometimes-we-have-to-hurt-people-in-order-to-keep-ourselves-whole-we/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [“Once, back in the time of the memories, everything had a shape and size, the way things still do, but they also had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/once-back-in-the-time-of-the-memories-everything-had-a-shape-and-size/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [“No one mentioned such things; it was not a rule, but was considered rude to call attention to things that were unsettling or different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/no-one-mentioned-such-things-it-was-not-a-rule-but-was-considered/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [When you lose a child in an accident as I did, it's final - you're not caught in this longing for him, to search…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/when-you-lose-a-child-in-an-accident-as-i-did-it-s-final-you-re-not/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [“...and I want you all to remember- that you must not dream yourselves back to the times before the war, but the dream for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/and-i-want-you-all-to-remember-that-you-must-not-dream-yourselves/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [“He saw Forest and understood what Seer had meant. It was an illusion. It was a tangled knot of fears and deceits and dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/he-saw-forest-and-understood-what-seer-had-meant-it-was-an-illusion/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [“Don't grow much more, or you will be taller than I am, little Longlegs!" Annemarie smiled, but Peter's comment was no longer the lighthearted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/don-t-grow-much-more-or-you-will-be-taller-than-i-am-little-longlegs/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

> [“Matty had felt this sensation—the”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/matty-had-felt-this-sensation-the/)

[Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

[Explore all 311 Lois Lowry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/)

## 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": "“now he knew that there were communities everywhere, sprinkled across the vast landscape of the known world, in which people suffered. Not always from beatings and hunger, the way he had. But from ignorance. From not knowing. From being kept from knowledge.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Lois Lowry"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/now-he-knew-that-there-were-communities-everywhere-sprinkled-across/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Ignorance"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/now-he-knew-that-there-were-communities-everywhere-sprinkled-across/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/lois-lowry-978_ignorance_now-he-knew-that-there-were-communities_326164.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/lois-lowry-978_ignorance_now-he-knew-that-there-were-communities_326164.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/lois-lowry-978_ignorance_now-he-knew-that-there-were-communities_326164.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“now he knew that there were communities everywhere, sprinkled across the vast landscape of the known world…” — Lois Lowry",
                "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": "Lois Lowry",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“now he knew that there were...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/now-he-knew-that-there-were-communities-everywhere-sprinkled-across/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/now-he-knew-that-there-were-communities-everywhere-sprinkled-across/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
