--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ignorance sheer ignorance. There is no…" description: "\"Ignorance sheer ignorance. There is no confidence to equal it. It's only when you know something about a profession that you are timid or careful.\" — O..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/orson-welles-1628_careful_ignorance-sheer-ignorance-there-is-no-co_1554099.jpg" --- # Ignorance sheer ignorance. There is no confidence to equal… ![“Ignorance sheer ignorance. There is no confidence to equal it. It's only when you know something about a profession that you are timid or careful.” quote by Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/orson-welles-1628_careful_ignorance-sheer-ignorance-there-is-no-co_1554099.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/orson-welles-1628_careful_ignorance-sheer-ignorance-there-is-no-co_1554099.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/orson-welles-1628_careful_ignorance-sheer-ignorance-there-is-no-co_1554099.jpg) > “Ignorance sheer ignorance. There is no confidence to equal it. It's only when you know something about a profession that you are timid or careful.” [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Lack of knowledge breeds overconfidence, while expertise brings caution and humility. **In simple terms:** Ignorance leads to confidence; knowledge to caution. Key Takeaway Respect expertise, stay humble. Themes confidence expertise humility Mood analytical inquisitive Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career advancement - skill acquisition - leadership training Key Concepts cognitive bias professional development Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance confidence and caution? - When should you seek more knowledge? A Different Perspective Overconfidence can be useful in risk‑taking. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Careful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/careful/) [Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) [Equal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equal/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-confidence-1004577/) [Ignorance Sheer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-sheer-5815862/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [No confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/no-confidence/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) [Sheer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sheer/) [Sheer Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sheer-ignorance-5815863/) ## Related quotes > [“Young gentlemen whose whiskers have not yet developed are authoritatively deciding that nothing can be decided, and dogmatically denouncing all dogmas. We meet them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-h-spurgeon/young-gentlemen-whose-whiskers-have-not-yet-developed-are/) [Charles H. Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-h-spurgeon/) > [A man once said, 'All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.' Mark Twain, you know. He had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/a-man-once-said-all-you-need-in-this-life-is-ignorance-and-confidence/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure. You can "already know for sure" things that could actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/all-you-need-in-this-life-is-ignorance-and-confidence-then-success-is-2/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/all-you-need-in-this-life-is-ignorance-and-confidence-and-then/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/all-you-need-in-this-life-is-ignorance-and-confidence-then-success-is/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/all-you-need-is-ignorance-and-confidence-and-the-success-is-sure/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Alice, you might be the product of the biggest ball of ignorance, confidence, and good fortune the universe has ever manufactured. But if you’re…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-lothlorien/alice-you-might-be-the-product-of-the-biggest-ball-of-ignorance/) [Elle Lothlorien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-lothlorien/) > [We need two things to succeed in life IGNORANCE and CONFIDENCE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-need-two-things-to-succeed-in-life-ignorance-and-confidence/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ignorance and confidence are constant companions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcafee/ignorance-and-confidence-are-constant-companions/) [John McAfee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcafee/) > [To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-succeed-in-life-you-need-two-things-ignorance-and-confidence/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure to follow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/all-you-need-is-ignorance-and-confidence-and-the-success-is-sure-to/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is strange the way the ignorant and inexperienced so often and so undeservedly succeed when the informed and the experienced fail. All you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-strange-the-way-the-ignorant-and-inexperienced-so-often-and-so-2/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/action-is-a-great-restorer-and-builder-of-confidence-inaction-is-not/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [That miracles have been, I do believe; that they may yet be wrought by the living, I do not deny; but I have no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/that-miracles-have-been-i-do-believe-that-they-may-yet-be-wrought-by/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [Though confidence is very fine, and makes the future sunny; I want no confidence for mine, I'd rather have the money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/though-confidence-is-very-fine-and-makes-the-future-sunny-i-want-no/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Orson Welles > [The two things you cannot do effectively on stage are pray and copulate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/the-two-things-you-cannot-do-effectively-on-stage-are-pray-and/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [There are a thousand ways of playing a good classic. If it were effective, I would play Hamlet on a trapeze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/there-are-a-thousand-ways-of-playing-a-good-classic-if-it-were/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [I am essentially a hack, a commercial person. If I had a hobby, I would immediately make money on it or abandon it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/i-am-essentially-a-hack-a-commercial-person-if-i-had-a-hobby-i-would/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [The essential is to excite the spectators. If that means playing Hamlet on a flying trapeze or in an aquarium, you do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/the-essential-is-to-excite-the-spectators-if-that-means-playing/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [There are three intolerable things in life - cold coffee, lukewarm champagne, and overexcited women...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/there-are-three-intolerable-things-in-life-cold-coffee-lukewarm/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [I'm extremely surprised to learn that a story, which has become familiar to children through the medium of comic strips and many succeeding novels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/i-m-extremely-surprised-to-learn-that-a-story-which-has-become/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [I hate women, hate them generally, not in particular but in an abstract way. 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I sat around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/when-television-came-along-i-d-already-done-more-than-10-years-of/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [Look at the real prodigies, and I look like nothing compared to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/look-at-the-real-prodigies-and-i-look-like-nothing-compared-to-them/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [The laws and the stage, both are a form of exhibitionism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/the-laws-and-the-stage-both-are-a-form-of-exhibitionism/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [In the theater there are 1,500 cameras rolling at the same time - in the cinema, only one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/in-the-theater-there-are-1-500-cameras-rolling-at-the-same-time-in/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [In Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/in-italy-for-30-years-under-the-borgias-they-had-warfare-terror/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [I would rather be on the set than doing anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/i-would-rather-be-on-the-set-than-doing-anything/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [I prefer people who rock the boat to people who jump out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/i-prefer-people-who-rock-the-boat-to-people-who-jump-out/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [If I don't like somebody's looks, I don't like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/if-i-don-t-like-somebody-s-looks-i-don-t-like-them/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) [Explore all 218 Orson Welles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) ## More Careful quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... 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I wouldn’t want anything to happen to the worst Spanish student in the history of the language.” I laughed. “No problemo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/be-careful-i-wouldn-t-want-anything-to-happen-to-the-worst-spanish/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) > [If I held all the thoughts of the world in my hand, I would be careful not to open it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-le-bovier-de-fontenelle/if-i-held-all-the-thoughts-of-the-world-in-my-hand-i-would-be-careful/) [Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-le-bovier-de-fontenelle/) > [Physical beauty is not everything, but the beauty is more careful than anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/physical-beauty-is-not-everything-but-the-beauty-is-more-careful-than/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you think about what you do, if you become self-conscious about it, you've got to be very careful. Because I really like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/if-you-think-about-what-you-do-if-you-become-self-conscious-about-it/) [Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/) > [You've got to be careful against classy fighters, especially counter-punchers because if you go for the finish too early, you can end up getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-froch/you-ve-got-to-be-careful-against-classy-fighters-especially-counter/) [Carl Froch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-froch/) > [ \[A\]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-fare-that-s-darned-good-advice/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [Be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-clement-stone-2/be-careful-the-friends-you-choose-for-you-will-become-like-them/) [W Clement Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-clement-stone-2/) > [A woman who is careful with her words is a gift to all who know her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysa-terkeurst/a-woman-who-is-careful-with-her-words-is-a-gift-to-all-who-know-her/) [Lysa TerKeurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysa-terkeurst/) > [We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. 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