--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So what was better for us all? An…" description: "\"“So what was better for us all? An ignorance, or a cautiousness like his, towards our own hearts.”\" — Michael Ondaatje" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/781/michael-ondaatje-940_cautiousness_so-what-was-better-for-us-all-an-ignoran_2339980.png" --- # So what was better for us all? An ignorance, or a… ![“So what was better for us all? An ignorance, or a cautiousness like his, towards our own hearts.” quote by Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/781/michael-ondaatje-940_cautiousness_so-what-was-better-for-us-all-an-ignoran_2339980.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/781/michael-ondaatje-940_cautiousness_so-what-was-better-for-us-all-an-ignoran_2339980.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/781/michael-ondaatje-940_cautiousness_so-what-was-better-for-us-all-an-ignoran_2339980.png) > ““So what was better for us all? An ignorance, or a cautiousness like his, towards our own hearts.”” [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He questions whether ignorance or cautiousness better protects our hearts. **In simple terms:** Cautiousness vs. ignorance in love. Key Takeaway Choose awareness over fear. Themes love caution self‑knowledge Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - relationships - personal growth - emotional decision‑making Key Concepts Romantic realism psychology Questions to Reflect On - Do you prefer comfort of ignorance? - How does caution affect intimacy? A Different Perspective Cautiousness can lead to paralysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cautiousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cautiousness/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) ## Related quotes > [Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know-and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/suppose-that-we-are-wise-enough-to-learn-and-know-and-yet-not-wise/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“Wisdom from a stranger is better than ignorance from a friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/wisdom-from-a-stranger-is-better-than-ignorance-from-a-friend/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“There were times he thought it would have been far better to never have known. Yet he continued to return to his core principle:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/there-were-times-he-thought-it-would-have-been-far-better-to-never/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“knowledge is better than ignorance, and it’s better to find out and embrace the truth even if that truth might not feel good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-cheng/knowledge-is-better-than-ignorance-and-it-s-better-to-find-out-and/) [Jack Cheng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-cheng/) > [What is wrong is not the great discoveries of science—information is always better than ignorance, no matter what information or what ignorance. What is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-is-wrong-is-not-the-great-discoveries-of-science-information-is/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Understanding is better than ignorance. Ignorance, unlike life, unlike narrative, is static. Understanding implies a forward motion, thus the possibility of change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-charles-wilson/understanding-is-better-than-ignorance-ignorance-unlike-life-unlike/) [Robert Charles Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-charles-wilson/) > [I do believe states' rights was a sound doctrine that got hijacked by some unsavory customers for a while - like, 150 years or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelton-reed/i-do-believe-states-rights-was-a-sound-doctrine-that-got-hijacked-by/) [John Shelton Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelton-reed/) > [“I have no reason to go, except that I have never been, and knowledge is better than ignorance. What better reason could there be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/i-have-no-reason-to-go-except-that-i-have-never-been-and-knowledge-is/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [Anything was better than nothing. Half-full was better than empty. Ignorance was the lowest form of humiliation and suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/anything-was-better-than-nothing-half-full-was-better-than-empty/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know - and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/suppose-that-we-are-wise-enough-to-learn-and-know-and-yet-not-wise-2/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“every situation, knowledge was better than ignorance. However agonizing, it was necessary to confront the facts. Only through knowing could a person become strong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/every-situation-knowledge-was-better-than-ignorance-however-agonizing/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [My donkeys are Jack and Don Quixote. They're very smart, very cautious. Much of what people consider stubbornness in donkeys is actually cautiousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-jo-campbell/my-donkeys-are-jack-and-don-quixote-they-re-very-smart-very-cautious/) [Bonnie Jo Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-jo-campbell/) > [The young suffer less from their own errors than from the cautiousness of the old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/the-young-suffer-less-from-their-own-errors-than-from-the/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) > [When safety is our priority, we live our lives being very, very careful, and we wind up having no lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-katie/when-safety-is-our-priority-we-live-our-lives-being-very-very-careful/) [Byron Katie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-katie/) > [“There is no control and no all-powerful creator, either – no more ‘God’ than man – but there is care, scruple, cautiousness, attention, contemplation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-latour/there-is-no-control-and-no-all-powerful-creator-either-no-more-god/) [Bruno Latour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-latour/) ## More by Michael Ondaatje > [“In spite of this, our table's status on the Oronsay continued to be minimal, while those at the Captain's Table were constantly toasting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/in-spite-of-this-our-table-s-status-on-the-oronsay-continued-to-be/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [He will hear the rain before he feels it, a clicking on the dry grass, on the olive leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/he-will-hear-the-rain-before-he-feels-it-a-clicking-on-the-dry-grass/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“Whenever her father was alone with a dog in a house he would lean over and smell the skin at the base of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/whenever-her-father-was-alone-with-a-dog-in-a-house-he-would-lean/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“...those who had risked everything at a riverbend on a left turn and so discovered a fortune.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/those-who-had-risked-everything-at-a-riverbend-on-a-left-turn-and-so/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“All over the world there must be people like us, Anna had said then, wounded in some way by falling in love - seemingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/all-over-the-world-there-must-be-people-like-us-anna-had-said-then/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Her father had taught her about hands. About a dog's paws. Whenever her father was alone with a dog in a house he would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/her-father-had-taught-her-about-hands-about-a-dog-s-paws-whenever-her/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [What is interesting and important happens mostly in secret, in places where there is no power. Nothing much of lasting value ever happens at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/what-is-interesting-and-important-happens-mostly-in-secret-in-places/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [There's more danger in the violence you don't face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/there-s-more-danger-in-the-violence-you-don-t-face/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [From this point on, she whispered, we will either find or lose our souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/from-this-point-on-she-whispered-we-will-either-find-or-lose-our-souls/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“You know it is the most relaxed thing when you when you sit with a best friend and you know there is nothing you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/you-know-it-is-the-most-relaxed-thing-when-you-when-you-sit-with-a/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“There was no control except the " mood of his power... and it is for this reason it is good you never heard him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/there-was-no-control-except-the-mood-of-his-power-and-it-is-for-this/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [You're getting everyone's point of view at the same time, which for me, is the perfect state for a novel: a cubist state, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/you-re-getting-everyone-s-point-of-view-at-the-same-time-which-for-me/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [I see the poem or the novel ending with an open door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/i-see-the-poem-or-the-novel-ending-with-an-open-door/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“The Time Around Scars: A girl whom I've not spoken to or shared coffee with for several years writes of an old scar. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/the-time-around-scars-a-girl-whom-i-ve-not-spoken-to-or-shared-coffee/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“- Daca ti-as incredinta viata mea, ai scapa-o pe jos. Nu-i asa?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/daca-ti-as-incredinta-viata-mea-ai-scapa-o-pe-jos-nu-i-asa/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) [Explore all 322 Michael Ondaatje quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) ## More Cautiousness quotes > [“There is no control and no all-powerful creator, either – no more ‘God’ than man – but there is care, scruple, cautiousness, attention, contemplation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-latour/there-is-no-control-and-no-all-powerful-creator-either-no-more-god/) [Bruno Latour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-latour/) > [When safety is our priority, we live our lives being very, very careful, and we wind up having no lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-katie/when-safety-is-our-priority-we-live-our-lives-being-very-very-careful/) [Byron Katie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-katie/) > [My donkeys are Jack and Don Quixote. They're very smart, very cautious. Much of what people consider stubbornness in donkeys is actually cautiousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-jo-campbell/my-donkeys-are-jack-and-don-quixote-they-re-very-smart-very-cautious/) [Bonnie Jo Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-jo-campbell/) > [The young suffer less from their own errors than from the cautiousness of the old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/the-young-suffer-less-from-their-own-errors-than-from-the/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) > [It’s funny now, trying to socialise with people. There’s this cautiousness about people which I just find really weird.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pattinson/it-s-funny-now-trying-to-socialise-with-people-there-s-this/) [Robert Pattinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pattinson/) > [It is not our free will but 'it is the Lord who sets the captive free' (Ps. 145:7). It is not our own virtue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cassian/it-is-not-our-free-will-but-it-is-the-lord-who-sets-the-captive-free/) [John Cassian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cassian/) > [Activity makes more men's fortunes than cautiousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/activity-makes-more-men-s-fortunes-than-cautiousness/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) > [“To those who in their turn selectively handle Mormon history and discourage our probing it in a number of areas, one needs to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-f-rogers/to-those-who-in-their-turn-selectively-handle-mormon-history-and/) Thomas F. Rogers > [“No one except your husband knows of the cautiousness at the heart of your life. Your adulthood has been a progressive retreat from curiosity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-gemmell/no-one-except-your-husband-knows-of-the-cautiousness-at-the-heart-of/) [Nikki Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-gemmell/) > [Cautiousness in judgment is nowadays to be recommended to each and every one: if we gained only one incontestable truth every ten years from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/cautiousness-in-judgment-is-nowadays-to-be-recommended-to-each-and/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [“people often mistake cautiousness for cowardice. and vice versa.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazar-emiral/people-often-mistake-cautiousness-for-cowardice-and-vice-versa/) Hazar Emiral > [I think it is more a cautiousness that protects me from enthusiasm about things. I tend not to get excited. People perceive it as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-dee/i-think-it-is-more-a-cautiousness-that-protects-me-from-enthusiasm/) [Jack Dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-dee/) > [“Intelligence is knowing the right answer. Wisdom is knowing when to say it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-fargo/intelligence-is-knowing-the-right-answer-wisdom-is-knowing-when-to/) [Tim Fargo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-fargo/) > [“I have said it before. You are too cautious, Fitz. What if this, what if that? You hide from trouble that may never knock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/i-have-said-it-before-you-are-too-cautious-fitz-what-if-this-what-if/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) [Browse all 15 Cautiousness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cautiousness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So what was better for us all? An ignorance, or a cautiousness like his, towards our own hearts.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Ondaatje" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/so-what-was-better-for-us-all-an-ignorance-or-a-cautiousness-like-his/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cautiousness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/so-what-was-better-for-us-all-an-ignorance-or-a-cautiousness-like-his/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/781/michael-ondaatje-940_cautiousness_so-what-was-better-for-us-all-an-ignoran_2339980.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/781/michael-ondaatje-940_cautiousness_so-what-was-better-for-us-all-an-ignoran_2339980.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/781/michael-ondaatje-940_cautiousness_so-what-was-better-for-us-all-an-ignoran_2339980.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So what was better for us all? An ignorance, or a cautiousness like his, towards our own hearts.” — Michael Ondaatje", "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": "Michael Ondaatje", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“So what was better for us...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/so-what-was-better-for-us-all-an-ignorance-or-a-cautiousness-like-his/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/so-what-was-better-for-us-all-an-ignorance-or-a-cautiousness-like-his/#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 } } ] } ```