--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Chance\" is just a word expressing ignorance" description: "\"“Chance\" is just a word expressing ignorance”\" — Richard Dawkins" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9d/richard-dawkins-115_chance_chance-is-just-a-word-expressing-ignoran_3095852.jpg" --- # Chance" is just a word expressing ignorance ![“Chance" is just a word expressing ignorance” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9d/richard-dawkins-115_chance_chance-is-just-a-word-expressing-ignoran_3095852.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9d/richard-dawkins-115_chance_chance-is-just-a-word-expressing-ignoran_3095852.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9d/richard-dawkins-115_chance_chance-is-just-a-word-expressing-ignoran_3095852.jpg) > ““Chance" is just a word expressing ignorance”” [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Calling something “chance” is a placeholder for our lack of knowledge, not a true explanation. **In simple terms:** “Chance” just means we don’t know why something happened. Key Takeaway Seek deeper explanations rather than settling for “chance.” Themes science uncertainty knowledge gaps explanatory power critical thinking Mood inquisitive analytical Type scientific educational When to use this quote - research - education - public discourse Key Concepts philosophy of science probability theory epistemology Questions to Reflect On - What does labeling something as “chance” prevent us from investigating? - When is “chance” an adequate explanation? A Different Perspective Risk of dismissing genuine randomness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luck/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [ \[Believers\] are but triflers who, when they cannot explain a thing, run back to the will of God; this is, truly, a ridiculous way… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/believers-are-but-triflers-who-when-they-cannot-explain-a-thing-run/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [Sometimes, life gives you a second chance because just maybe the first time you weren't ready.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-life-gives-you-a-second-chance-because-just-maybe-the-first/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nobody gives you a chance... So you just have to stand on your own two feet and take them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christon-henry/nobody-gives-you-a-chance-so-you-just-have-to-stand-on-your-own-two/) [Christon Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christon-henry/) > [Everyone deserves a second chance. That's just the way I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t/everyone-deserves-a-second-chance-that-s-just-the-way-i-am/) [Booker T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t/) > [I've told people before, 'All I need is a chance. Just wait. I'm going to show what I can do.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wood/i-ve-told-people-before-all-i-need-is-a-chance-just-wait-i-m-going-to/) [Christian Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wood/) > [You lost your chance...just know you're not getting another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-lost-your-chance-just-know-you-re-not-getting-another/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You'll give him 'one more chance' just like the time before...but he already knows you'll give a hundred more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-give-him-one-more-chance-just-like-the-time-before-but-he/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Chance. Stupid, dumb, blind chance. Just a part of the strange mechanism of the world, with its fits and coughs and starts and random…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/chance-stupid-dumb-blind-chance-just-a-part-of-the-strange-mechanism/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [Sometimes you have to take a chance and just go with it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-dorff/sometimes-you-have-to-take-a-chance-and-just-go-with-it/) [Heather Dorff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-dorff/) > [Whenever you get a chance, you take it, so I just need to keep my head up, keep working hard every day, so if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelechi-iheanacho/whenever-you-get-a-chance-you-take-it-so-i-just-need-to-keep-my-head/) [Kelechi Iheanacho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelechi-iheanacho/) > [I will miss you miss you, smile at the chance just to seee you again...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-will-miss-you-miss-you-smile-at-the-chance-just-to-seee-you-again/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You never know what life is going to throw at you so don't be afraid to take a chance because it might just be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/you-never-know-what-life-is-going-to-throw-at-you-so-don-t-be-afraid/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [I say if you're going to take a chance on something, you just go full balls to the wall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toby-keith/i-say-if-you-re-going-to-take-a-chance-on-something-you-just-go-full/) [Toby Keith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toby-keith/) > [Natural selection is anything but random.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/natural-selection-is-anything-but-random/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Now the whole point about machines is they are designed not to be random. When you call up a word processing program on your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-sheldrake/now-the-whole-point-about-machines-is-they-are-designed-not-to-be/) [Rupert Sheldrake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-sheldrake/) ## More by Richard Dawkins > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“The fundamentalist Kurt Wise proclaims that all the evidence in the universe would not change his mind. The true scientist, however passionately he may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-fundamentalist-kurt-wise-proclaims-that-all-the-evidence-in-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except they're usually false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/religions-do-make-claims-about-the-universe-the-same-kinds-of-claims/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/much-of-the-bible-is-not-systematically-evil-but-just-plain-weird-as/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The recurrent laryngeal nerve - which runs from the head to the voice box - goes all the way down into the chest, loops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-which-runs-from-the-head-to-the-voice/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The Roman Catholic Church is an institution for whose gains the phrase "ill-gotten" might have been specially invented. And of all its money-making rip-offs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-roman-catholic-church-is-an-institution-for-whose-gains-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/let-us-understand-what-our-own-selfish-genes-are-up-to-because-we-may/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [What's going to happen when I die? I may be buried, or I may be cremated, I may give my body to science. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/what-s-going-to-happen-when-i-die-i-may-be-buried-or-i-may-be/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. I can think of some answers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/or-why-it-is-acceptable-to-train-fast-runners-and-high-jumpers-but/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We have seen that living things are too improbable and too beautifully 'designed' to have come into existence by chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-have-seen-that-living-things-are-too-improbable-and-too/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“We will not go quietly away. If in the future that requires violence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-will-not-go-quietly-away-if-in-the-future-that-requires-violence/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-s-a-truly-disgusting-idea-that-the-creator-of-the-universe-capable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Explore all 1,239 Richard Dawkins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More Chance quotes > [Before I debuted, it was my goal to make my debut, and afterwards, I aimed at winning champion titles on television music shows, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hyuna/before-i-debuted-it-was-my-goal-to-make-my-debut-and-afterwards-i/) [Hyuna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hyuna/) > [I understand it's promotion, but no one ever gave me a chance. No one ever thought I'd be the champ, and look where I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stipe-miocic/i-understand-it-s-promotion-but-no-one-ever-gave-me-a-chance-no-one/) [Stipe Miocic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stipe-miocic/) > [I might, by chance, write something just as shoddy; But then I wouldn't show it to everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/i-might-by-chance-write-something-just-as-shoddy-but-then-i-wouldn-t/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [The happy medium is television. And if you find a good suitor, you can do it for years. With movies, you roll the dice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-campbell/the-happy-medium-is-television-and-if-you-find-a-good-suitor-you-can/) [Bruce Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-campbell/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I have heard that if you pull a bent breath through the second hole of a harmonica tuned to the key of Georgia while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-wakefield/i-have-heard-that-if-you-pull-a-bent-breath-through-the-second-hole/) [Buddy Wakefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-wakefield/) > [There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. But a knob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-times-when-we-can-feel-destiny-close-around-us-like-a-fist/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Pain held no terror for him. Pain was, if not friend, then family, something he had grown up with in his crèche, learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-bacigalupi/pain-held-no-terror-for-him-pain-was-if-not-friend-then-family/) [Paolo Bacigalupi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-bacigalupi/) > [Love changes people, for better or for worse. You could look at it as a chance for you to change. The best kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-changes-people-for-better-or-for-worse-you-could-look-at-it-as-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It's not who, it's when”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-taubas/it-s-not-who-it-s-when/) Alejandro Taubas > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I thought my first few jobs would just be off, off, off, off, off broadway. And by chance and how the world works, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-dorfman/i-thought-my-first-few-jobs-would-just-be-off-off-off-off-off/) [Tommy Dorfman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-dorfman/) > [If you’re worrying about the past, you’ve got a good chance of screwing up the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-a-tullman/if-you-re-worrying-about-the-past-you-ve-got-a-good-chance-of/) [Howard A. Tullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-a-tullman/) > [To be successful, one must take chances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-stargell/to-be-successful-one-must-take-chances/) [Willie Stargell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-stargell/) [Browse all 12,460 Chance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Chance\" is just a word expressing ignorance”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Dawkins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/chance-is-just-a-word-expressing-ignorance/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/chance-is-just-a-word-expressing-ignorance/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9d/richard-dawkins-115_chance_chance-is-just-a-word-expressing-ignoran_3095852.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9d/richard-dawkins-115_chance_chance-is-just-a-word-expressing-ignoran_3095852.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9d/richard-dawkins-115_chance_chance-is-just-a-word-expressing-ignoran_3095852.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Chance\" is just a word expressing ignorance” — Richard Dawkins", "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": "Richard Dawkins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Chance\" is just a word expressing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/chance-is-just-a-word-expressing-ignorance/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/chance-is-just-a-word-expressing-ignorance/#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 } } ] } ```