--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us…" description: "\"We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in gend..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/maya-angelou-104_ignorance_we-allow-our-ignorance-to-prevail-upon-u_1583145.png" --- # We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us… ![“We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders.” quote by Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/maya-angelou-104_ignorance_we-allow-our-ignorance-to-prevail-upon-u_1583145.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/maya-angelou-104_ignorance_we-allow-our-ignorance-to-prevail-upon-u_1583145.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/maya-angelou-104_ignorance_we-allow-our-ignorance-to-prevail-upon-u_1583145.png) > “We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders.” [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ignorance isolates us, making us think we can survive alone in every identity group. **In simple terms:** Ignorance leads to false belief in solitary survival. Key Takeaway Embrace connection across differences. Themes isolation ignorance identity community Mood reflective motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - teamwork - community activism - education - mental health support Key Concepts social psychology intersectionality human solidarity Questions to Reflect On - How does shared vulnerability foster unity? - What actions can break down perceived separations? A Different Perspective Overcoming isolation requires confronting our own biases. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) ## Related quotes > [As long as superstition and ignorance prevail, humanity will fall short of eradicating war, poverty, and hunger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/as-long-as-superstition-and-ignorance-prevail-humanity-will-fall/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [“Don't allow ignorance to further enslave your destiny.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaachynma-n-e-agu/don-t-allow-ignorance-to-further-enslave-your-destiny/) [Jaachynma N.E. Agu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaachynma-n-e-agu/) > [I like to think that I could survive should the apocalypse or zombies show up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-bream/i-like-to-think-that-i-could-survive-should-the-apocalypse-or-zombies/) [Shannon Bream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-bream/) > [“If some men do not choose to think, but survive by imitating and repeating, like trained animals, the routine of sounds and motions they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/if-some-men-do-not-choose-to-think-but-survive-by-imitating-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [I know that when you are experiencing failure, it's pretty damn painful. It is easy in retrospect to wax poetic about it. 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And then you survive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/there-are-those-moments-you-don-t-think-you-will-survive-and-then-you/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Sometimes the worst thing that happens to you, the thing you think you can't survive...it's the thing that makes you better than you used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-weiner/sometimes-the-worst-thing-that-happens-to-you-the-thing-you-think-you/) [Jennifer Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-weiner/) > [“I think it’s more about learning that in life it begins and ends with you. I mean, yes we all need love and seek…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-harris/i-think-it-s-more-about-learning-that-in-life-it-begins-and-ends-with/) [Ali Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-harris/) > [Life isn't meant to be easy. It's hard to take being on the top - or on the bottom. 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However, one cannot be dogmatic about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamal-nazrul-islam/there-is-very-little-hope-for-life-of-any-kind-surviving-the-big/) [Jamal Nazrul Islam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamal-nazrul-islam/) > [When I think about doing something, I think: Will I survive a million out of a million times?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-potter/when-i-think-about-doing-something-i-think-will-i-survive-a-million/) [Dean Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-potter/) > [I think I could survive a week without eating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-fox/i-think-i-could-survive-a-week-without-eating/) [Megan Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-fox/) > [“If you want success then decide to provide a great service to the world. Do not think how you will survive. Think of how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dines/if-you-want-success-then-decide-to-provide-a-great-service-to-the/) [Christopher Dines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dines/) ## More by Maya Angelou > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-we-accept-being-talked-to-any-kind-of-a-way-then-we-are-telling/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“You are very kind and very intelligent and those elements are not always found together. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-are-very-kind-and-very-intelligent-and-those-elements-are-not/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I agreed a long time ago, I would not live at any cost. If I am moved or forced away from what I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-agreed-a-long-time-ago-i-would-not-live-at-any-cost-if-i-am-moved/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You want me to do something... tell me I can't do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-want-me-to-do-something-tell-me-i-can-t-do-it/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-is-going-to-give-you-just-what-you-put-in-it-put-your-whole/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may tread me in the very dirt But still, like dust,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-may-write-me-down-in-history-with-your-bitter-twisted-lies-you/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/the-more-you-know-of-your-history-the-more-liberated-you-are/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Life offers us tickets to places which we have not knowingly asked for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-offers-us-tickets-to-places-which-we-have-not-knowingly-asked-for/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/every-person-needs-to-take-one-day-away-a-day-in-which-one/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm working at trying to be a Christian, and that's serious business. It's like trying to be a good Jew, a good Muslim, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-m-working-at-trying-to-be-a-christian-and-that-s-serious-business/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Nathaniel Hawthorne once said that easy reading is damn hard writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/nathaniel-hawthorne-once-said-that-easy-reading-is-damn-hard-writing/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Sunday, if I'm lucky, I'll go to church or listen to some good spiritual advice on the television or on the radio. I take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/sunday-if-i-m-lucky-i-ll-go-to-church-or-listen-to-some-good/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Explore all 1,313 Maya Angelou quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## 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 > [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 > [“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": "We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Maya Angelou" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/we-allow-our-ignorance-to-prevail-upon-us-and-make-us-think-we-can/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ignorance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/we-allow-our-ignorance-to-prevail-upon-us-and-make-us-think-we-can/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/maya-angelou-104_ignorance_we-allow-our-ignorance-to-prevail-upon-u_1583145.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/maya-angelou-104_ignorance_we-allow-our-ignorance-to-prevail-upon-u_1583145.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/maya-angelou-104_ignorance_we-allow-our-ignorance-to-prevail-upon-u_1583145.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in…” — Maya Angelou", "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": "Maya Angelou", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We allow our ignorance to prevail...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/we-allow-our-ignorance-to-prevail-upon-us-and-make-us-think-we-can/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/we-allow-our-ignorance-to-prevail-upon-us-and-make-us-think-we-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 } } ] } ```