--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The fact is, I think, that my friends…" description: "\"“The fact is, I think, that my friends really didn't know. They didn't know because they didn't want to know; but they didn't know. They could have fou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2dd/milton-mayer-27880_holocaust_the-fact-is-i-think-that-my-friends-real_1981976.jpg" --- # The fact is, I think, that my friends really didn't know… ![“The fact is, I think, that my friends really didn't know. They didn't know because they didn't want to know; but they didn't know. They could have found out, at the time, only if they had wanted to very badly.” quote by Milton Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2dd/milton-mayer-27880_holocaust_the-fact-is-i-think-that-my-friends-real_1981976.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2dd/milton-mayer-27880_holocaust_the-fact-is-i-think-that-my-friends-real_1981976.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2dd/milton-mayer-27880_holocaust_the-fact-is-i-think-that-my-friends-real_1981976.jpg) > ““The fact is, I think, that my friends really didn't know. They didn't know because they didn't want to know; but they didn't know. They could have found out, at the time, only if they had wanted to very badly.”” [Milton Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-mayer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often remain ignorant because they lack desire to seek truth, not because information is unavailable. **In simple terms:** Ignorance can be a choice. Key Takeaway Cultivate curiosity and seek truth. Themes ignorance choice truth curiosity Mood reflective serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal relationships - political discourse - media consumption Key Concepts psychology motivation information seeking Questions to Reflect On - Why do we avoid uncomfortable truths? - How can we motivate others to seek knowledge? A Different Perspective If people are unwilling, knowledge may still be inaccessible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Holocaust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holocaust/) [Nazis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nazis/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [What we feel is as true a fact as what we think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-black/what-we-feel-is-as-true-a-fact-as-what-we-think/) [Hugh Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-black/) > [I am normal. In fact, I think I might be more normal than anyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-mcmahon/i-am-normal-in-fact-i-think-i-might-be-more-normal-than-anyone-else/) [Jim McMahon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-mcmahon/) > [Any fact facing us, however difficult, even seemingly hopeless, is not so important as our attitude towards that fact. How you think about a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/any-fact-facing-us-however-difficult-even-seemingly-hopeless-is-not/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. The way you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/any-fact-facing-us-is-not-as-important-as-our-attitude-toward-it-for/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [You are overcome by the fact because you think you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/you-are-overcome-by-the-fact-because-you-think-you-are/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [The Nazis victimized some people for what they did, some for what they refused to do, some for what they were, and some for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-horton-conway/the-nazis-victimized-some-people-for-what-they-did-some-for-what-they/) John Horton Conway > [“If I had known what the next six years of my life were going to be like, I would have eaten more. 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Had a midnight bar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-gratz/i-had-survived-the-work-gangs-in-the-ghetto-baked-bread-under-cover/) [Alan Gratz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-gratz/) > [The missionaries of Christianity had said in effect: You have no right to live among us as Jews. The secular rulers who followed had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raul-hilberg/the-missionaries-of-christianity-had-said-in-effect-you-have-no-right/) [Raul Hilberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raul-hilberg/) > [“In the years of its rise the movement little by little brought the community's attitude toward the teacher around from respect and envy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-mayer/in-the-years-of-its-rise-the-movement-little-by-little-brought-the/) [Milton Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-mayer/) > [“It was not anti-Semitism or socialism or the New Order that first animated the Nazis; their first slogal was, "Break the chains of Versailles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-mayer/it-was-not-anti-semitism-or-socialism-or-the-new-order-that-first/) [Milton Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-mayer/) ## More by Milton Mayer > [Once the war began, the government could do anything 'necessary' to win it; so it was with the 'final solution of the Jewish problem,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-mayer/once-the-war-began-the-government-could-do-anything-necessary-to-win/) [Milton Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-mayer/) > [The marvels - of film, radio, and television - are marvels of one-way communication, which is not communication at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-mayer/the-marvels-of-film-radio-and-television-are-marvels-of-one-way/) [Milton Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-mayer/) > [“It was not anti-Semitism or socialism or the New Order that first animated the Nazis; their first slogal was, "Break the chains of Versailles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-mayer/it-was-not-anti-semitism-or-socialism-or-the-new-order-that-first/) [Milton Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-mayer/) > [Scott Buchanan . . . taught me that the questions that can be answered are not worth asking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-mayer/scott-buchanan-taught-me-that-the-questions-that-can-be-answered-are/) [Milton Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-mayer/) > [“In the years of its rise the movement little by little brought the community's attitude toward the teacher around from respect and envy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-mayer/in-the-years-of-its-rise-the-movement-little-by-little-brought-the/) [Milton Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-mayer/) > [“I fooled myself. I had to. Everybody has to. 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Frankly, I do not know. I do not see, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-mayer/how-is-this-to-be-avoided-among-ordinary-men-even-highly-educated/) [Milton Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-mayer/) > [“None of my ten friends, even today, ascribes moral evil to Hitler, although most of them think (after the fact) that he made fatal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-mayer/none-of-my-ten-friends-even-today-ascribes-moral-evil-to-hitler/) [Milton Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-mayer/) > [“In the body politic as in the body personal, nonresistance to the milder indulgences paves the way for nonresistance to the deadlier.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-mayer/in-the-body-politic-as-in-the-body-personal-nonresistance-to-the/) [Milton Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-mayer/) > [“When I asked Herr Wedekind, the baker, why he had believed in National Socialism, he said, "Because it promised to solve the unemployment problem.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-mayer/when-i-asked-herr-wedekind-the-baker-why-he-had-believed-in-national/) [Milton Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-mayer/) [Explore all 20 Milton Mayer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-mayer/) ## More Holocaust quotes > [There are many more traits that the climate deniers share with the creationists and Holocaust deniers and others who distort the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-r-prothero/there-are-many-more-traits-that-the-climate-deniers-share-with-the/) [Donald R. Prothero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-r-prothero/) > [In my rear view mirror the sun is going down sinking behind bridges in the road and I think of all the good things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/in-my-rear-view-mirror-the-sun-is-going-down-sinking-behind-bridges/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [THE REAL PURPOSE OF HOLOCAUST REVISIONISM IS TO MAKE NATIONAL SOCIALISM AN ACCEPTABLE POLITICAL ALTERNATIVE AGAIN.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-covington/the-real-purpose-of-holocaust-revisionism-is-to-make-national/) Harold Covington > [The difference is that we have the hardest and most painful evidence that there was a Holocaust. But, for the global warming scenario that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-difference-is-that-we-have-the-hardest-and-most-painful-evidence/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“I do not know where Viktor and Rudolf were taken. I cannot find the records. I never Elisabeth or Iggie. It is possible that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/i-do-not-know-where-viktor-and-rudolf-were-taken-i-cannot-find-the/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [Arab youth are taught to wonder, 'Since the Holocaust was a European affair, why are the Palestinians being forced to pay for the creation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-bronfman-sr/arab-youth-are-taught-to-wonder-since-the-holocaust-was-a-european/) [Edgar Bronfman, Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-bronfman-sr/) > [Miami Beach - that's where I grew up, in a middle-class Jewish family led by my maternal grandfather. Me, my great-grandmother - a Holocaust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brett-ratner/miami-beach-that-s-where-i-grew-up-in-a-middle-class-jewish-family/) [Brett Ratner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brett-ratner/) > [I remember learning about the Holocaust when I was in kindergarten and being terrified. I think we even watched a graphic video about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-soloway/i-remember-learning-about-the-holocaust-when-i-was-in-kindergarten/) [Jill Soloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-soloway/) > [“Oskar is the fruit of those fantasies -- the idea that what needed to be saved was not just lives but hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-simon/oskar-is-the-fruit-of-those-fantasies-the-idea-that-what-needed-to-be/) Richard Simon > [Every two, three years there is a movie about the Holocaust because they want you to remember and they want you to be reminded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-foxx/every-two-three-years-there-is-a-movie-about-the-holocaust-because/) [Jamie Foxx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-foxx/) > [The Jew always lives from the blood of other peoples, he needs such murders and such sacrifices. The victory will be only entirely and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-streicher/the-jew-always-lives-from-the-blood-of-other-peoples-he-needs-such/) [Julius Streicher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-streicher/) > [Looking at the numbers, the transatlantic slave trade matches the Holocaust in horror - maybe even without counting subsidiary effects like internal strife and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jens-martin-skibsted/looking-at-the-numbers-the-transatlantic-slave-trade-matches-the/) [Jens Martin Skibsted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jens-martin-skibsted/) > [“The Ordinary is Extraordinary ..." my motto for life as a writer/Mom/woman”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-barr/the-ordinary-is-extraordinary-my-motto-for-life-as-a-writer-mom-woman/) Lisa Barr > [Every Jew, somewhere in his being, should set apart a zone of hate -healthy virile hate- for what the German personifies and for what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/every-jew-somewhere-in-his-being-should-set-apart-a-zone-of-hate/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Never to forget the Holocaust was not only against Jews. It was mostly against Jews but it was also against homosexuals, gypsies and, let's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-westheimer/never-to-forget-the-holocaust-was-not-only-against-jews-it-was-mostly/) [Ruth Westheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-westheimer/) [Browse all 745 Holocaust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holocaust/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The fact is, I think, that my friends really didn't know. They didn't know because they didn't want to know; but they didn't know. 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