--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A lot of people will always say, 'I…" description: "\"A lot of people will always say, 'I really know nothing about the ancient world.' But there's lots and lots of things people know. Partly, they've been..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a47/mary-beard-3016_ancient_a-lot-of-people-will-always-say-i-really_2535797.png" --- # A lot of people will always say, 'I really know nothing… ![“A lot of people will always say, 'I really know nothing about the ancient world.' But there's lots and lots of things people know. Partly, they've been encouraged to think they're ignorant about it. In some ways, the job to do is show people that they know much more than they'd like to admit.” quote by Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a47/mary-beard-3016_ancient_a-lot-of-people-will-always-say-i-really_2535797.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a47/mary-beard-3016_ancient_a-lot-of-people-will-always-say-i-really_2535797.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a47/mary-beard-3016_ancient_a-lot-of-people-will-always-say-i-really_2535797.png) > “A lot of people will always say, 'I really know nothing about the ancient world.' But there's lots and lots of things people know. Partly, they've been encouraged to think they're ignorant about it. In some ways, the job to do is show people that they know much more than they'd like to admit.” [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People underestimate their knowledge of antiquity; revealing familiar facts boosts confidence and counters the myth of ignorance. **In simple terms:** People know more about ancient world than they think. Key Takeaway Share known facts to build confidence. Themes knowledge confidence education myths Mood educational encouraging Type historical motivational When to use this quote - teaching - museum visits - media literacy - personal study Key Concepts history cognitive bias public discourse Questions to Reflect On - What ancient fact surprised you? - How can we balance humility and confidence? A Different Perspective Overconfidence can lead to misinformation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Ancient world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient-world/) [Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothing/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Whereas much of what we know from ancient history is derived from one or two sources, we have no fewer than nine ancient sources,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-strobel/whereas-much-of-what-we-know-from-ancient-history-is-derived-from-one/) [Lee Strobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-strobel/) > [You think I'm an ignorant savage and you've been so many places; I guess it must be so, but still I cannot see if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pocahontas/you-think-i-m-an-ignorant-savage-and-you-ve-been-so-many-places-i/) [Pocahontas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pocahontas/) > [Human consciousness arose but a minute before midnight on the geological clock. 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"And you're looking your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriella-poole/you-think-i-don-t-know-these-ancient-labyrinths-i-know-them-all-in/) [Gabriella Poole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriella-poole/) > [“I did not know, however, that ancient glories imply, at least in the middle of the present century, present fatigue and, quite probably, paranoia;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/i-did-not-know-however-that-ancient-glories-imply-at-least-in-the/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [There is nothing inherently conservative in the ancient world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/there-is-nothing-inherently-conservative-in-the-ancient-world/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“He felt a psychosomatic rush of emptiness before he spoke. “Since we are getting to the real point, I am not stupid John. 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Saint Augustine was obsessed with them.I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-greenblatt/there-s-a-huge-amount-of-work-on-adam-and-eve-from-the-ancient-world/) [Stephen Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-greenblatt/) ## More by Mary Beard > [I receive something we might euphemistically call an 'inappropriately hostile' response - that is to say, more than fair criticism or even fair anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-receive-something-we-might-euphemistically-call-an-inappropriately/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [We have never escaped a certain male cultural desire for women's silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/we-have-never-escaped-a-certain-male-cultural-desire-for-women-s/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“defend women’s right to be wrong, at least occasionally.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/defend-women-s-right-to-be-wrong-at-least-occasionally/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [You don't overturn x-thousand years of patriarchy in a generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/you-don-t-overturn-x-thousand-years-of-patriarchy-in-a-generation/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“we have no template for what a powerful woman looks like, except that she looks rather like a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/we-have-no-template-for-what-a-powerful-woman-looks-like-except-that/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“(In the Afghan parliament, apparently, they disconnect the mics when they don’t want to hear the women speak).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/in-the-afghan-parliament-apparently-they-disconnect-the-mics-when/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [I've chosen to be this way because that's how I feel comfortable with myself. 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I feel shrunken, as if there's a tiny ancient Oliver Tate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dunthorne/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-come-of-age-but-i-m-certainly-older-now-i-feel/) [Joe Dunthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dunthorne/) > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-must-speak-english-who-can-write-sanskrit-they-must-speak-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [So too, monks, I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/so-too-monks-i-saw-the-ancient-path-the-ancient-road-traveled-by-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/ancient-societies-had-anthropomorphic-gods-a-huge-pantheon-expanding/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Those of us with this ancient compulsion to tell stories sometimes start with a single kernel of something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/those-of-us-with-this-ancient-compulsion-to-tell-stories-sometimes/) [Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/) > [All the stories I have told you are finally as useless as all ancient knowledge is to man and to us. Its images and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/all-the-stories-i-have-told-you-are-finally-as-useless-as-all-ancient/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [So what if I'm ninety-three? So what if I'm ancient and cranky and my body's a wreck? If they're willing to accept me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gruen/so-what-if-i-m-ninety-three-so-what-if-i-m-ancient-and-cranky-and-my/) [Sara Gruen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gruen/) > [Science has revealed a universe that is vast, ancient, violent, strange, and beautiful, a universe of almost infinite variety and possibility one in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/science-has-revealed-a-universe-that-is-vast-ancient-violent-strange/) [Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/) [Browse all 2,415 Ancient quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A lot of people will always say, 'I really know nothing about the ancient world.' But there's lots and lots of things people know. Partly, they've been encouraged to think they're ignorant about it. 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