--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Willful ignorance or resistance to…" description: "\"“Willful ignorance or resistance to alleged facts has been a big ingredient in any success I’ve had.”\" — Rob Delaney" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/rob-delaney-12520_ignorance_willful-ignorance-or-resistance-to-alleg_315214.jpg" --- # Willful ignorance or resistance to alleged facts has been… ![“Willful ignorance or resistance to alleged facts has been a big ingredient in any success I’ve had.” quote by Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/rob-delaney-12520_ignorance_willful-ignorance-or-resistance-to-alleg_315214.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/rob-delaney-12520_ignorance_willful-ignorance-or-resistance-to-alleg_315214.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/rob-delaney-12520_ignorance_willful-ignorance-or-resistance-to-alleg_315214.jpg) > ““Willful ignorance or resistance to alleged facts has been a big ingredient in any success I’ve had.”” [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Success often comes from ignoring or rejecting information that contradicts one’s goals, allowing focus on personal vision. **In simple terms:** Ignoring contradictory facts can help achieve goals. Key Takeaway Stay focused on your vision despite contrary data. Themes focus success mindset Mood determined critical Type motivational pragmatic When to use this quote - entrepreneurship - creative projects - personal development - team leadership Key Concepts cognitive bias selective perception Questions to Reflect On - Do you ever dismiss data that challenges your plans? - How can you balance focus with openness to facts? A Different Perspective Overlooking critical facts can lead to blind spots and failure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alleged Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alleged-facts-2983231/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance Resistance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-resistance-2983229/) [Resistance Alleged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resistance-alleged-2983230/) [Willful ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willful-ignorance/) ## Related quotes > [But when we set out to understand somebody’s inside? Is that a trip that ever ends? Is the soul a place of facts? Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/but-when-we-set-out-to-understand-somebody-s-inside-is-that-a-trip/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [Our alleged facts might be true in all kinds of ways without contradicting any truth already known. I will dwell now on only one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-crookes/our-alleged-facts-might-be-true-in-all-kinds-of-ways-without/) [William Crookes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-crookes/) > [“the late tenth-century ‘Aja’ib al-Hind (Marvels of India), attributed to the sea captain Burzug ibn Shahriyar, presented alleged facts about the Sea of Fire,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-c-lyons/the-late-tenth-century-aja-ib-al-hind-marvels-of-india-attributed-to/) [Malcolm C. Lyons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-c-lyons/) > [The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/the-strain-of-anti-intellectualism-has-been-a-constant-thread-winding/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“Bill O'Reilly calls his tv show the "No Spin Zone" but the man is practically a whirling dervish. He combines willful ignorance with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-lee/bill-o-reilly-calls-his-tv-show-the-no-spin-zone-but-the-man-is/) [Earl Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-lee/) > [It’s much easier not to know things sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/it-s-much-easier-not-to-know-things-sometimes/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [“. Christianity is marketed as a religion of love and tolerance, but inwardly it is a destructive virus that causes division, promotes willful ignorance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stefanelli/christianity-is-marketed-as-a-religion-of-love-and-tolerance-but/) [Al Stefanelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stefanelli/) > [“I look away, farther down the hall, and I see Tish in line with her Sunday school class. Tish sees me and her face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glennon-doyle-melton/i-look-away-farther-down-the-hall-and-i-see-tish-in-line-with-her/) [Glennon Doyle Melton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glennon-doyle-melton/) > [“(both circumvented the handicap of deafness by answering only those questions they believed had been asked & accepting only those answers they believed had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/both-circumvented-the-handicap-of-deafness-by-answering-only-those/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Ignorance can be improved; willful ignorance and inaction is inexcusable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brock/ignorance-can-be-improved-willful-ignorance-and-inaction-is/) [David Brock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brock/) > [It was clear to me that it wouldn't matter what I did - they would never truly appreciate me or learn what I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-lindsay/it-was-clear-to-me-that-it-wouldn-t-matter-what-i-did-they-would/) [Jeff Lindsay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-lindsay/) > [ \[T\]he scripture worshippers put the writings ahead of God. Instead of interpreting God's actions in nature, for example, they interpret nature in the light… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-s-tepper/t-he-scripture-worshippers-put-the-writings-ahead-of-god-instead-of/) [Sheri S. Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) > [When all this is over, people will try to blame the Germans alone, and the Germans will try to blame the Nazis alone, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-pears/when-all-this-is-over-people-will-try-to-blame-the-germans-alone-and/) [Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-pears/) > [“Maybe you’re not a believer, but if you’re honest, you’ll have to agree that something is wrong with this place. Senseless violence, corrupting envy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/maybe-you-re-not-a-believer-but-if-you-re-honest-you-ll-have-to-agree/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“We simply cannot engage with either the ills or promises of society if we continue to turn a blind eye to the egregious and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-kyodo-williams/we-simply-cannot-engage-with-either-the-ills-or-promises-of-society/) [Angel Kyodo Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angel-kyodo-williams/) ## More by Rob Delaney > [“Children give terrible gifts because they are poor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/children-give-terrible-gifts-because-they-are-poor/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [I can say that I'm a feminist and I try to be progressive and all that stuff. But I when I'm tired or when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/i-can-say-that-i-m-a-feminist-and-i-try-to-be-progressive-and-all/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [People who concern themselves with the rights of other adults who engage in consensual acts involving sex, love, and/or eating croissants together are damaged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/people-who-concern-themselves-with-the-rights-of-other-adults-who/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [“If you ask someone out and they say no, try it again in a few minutes wearing sunglasses and smoking a cigarette.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/if-you-ask-someone-out-and-they-say-no-try-it-again-in-a-few-minutes/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [If you have an opinion on what other adults do consensually with other adults when they take their pants off, you're a weirdo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/if-you-have-an-opinion-on-what-other-adults-do-consensually-with/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [Running is special. We've all done it: well, poorly, focused, in fear, being pursued, toward a goal. It's just elemental. Running is like fire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/running-is-special-we-ve-all-done-it-well-poorly-focused-in-fear/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [“Cheesecake. Are you shitting me? Who invented that? Probably Jesus of Nazareth. Or maybe Louis Pasteur. It makes me physically sick to think that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/cheesecake-are-you-shitting-me-who-invented-that-probably-jesus-of/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [I think your ambition for something changes as you go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/i-think-your-ambition-for-something-changes-as-you-go/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [But I also know in standup, there's nowhere to hide. You get on stage and you deliver, or you are eviscerated and you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/but-i-also-know-in-standup-there-s-nowhere-to-hide-you-get-on-stage/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [I want people to feel good about themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/i-want-people-to-feel-good-about-themselves/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [“I like to imagine that those dead, unloved nut jobs became friends under the earth and have their little crazy community where they show…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/i-like-to-imagine-that-those-dead-unloved-nut-jobs-became-friends/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [With Twitter, you just want to make people laugh in their meeting; on stage, people have paid for their tickets with their hard-earned money,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/with-twitter-you-just-want-to-make-people-laugh-in-their-meeting-on/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [I use Twitter as a tool to get involved with people, to sell tickets to gigs where I can stand in a room and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/i-use-twitter-as-a-tool-to-get-involved-with-people-to-sell-tickets/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [We can and should complain about certain horrors of the modern world, but when it comes to the treatment of mental illness, the advances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/we-can-and-should-complain-about-certain-horrors-of-the-modern-world/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) > [I'm crazy about Shakespeare, who was a notorious word inventor. And my wife is an English teacher, and she's hilarious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/i-m-crazy-about-shakespeare-who-was-a-notorious-word-inventor-and-my/) [Rob Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) [Explore all 54 Rob Delaney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "“Willful ignorance or resistance to alleged facts has been a big ingredient in any success I’ve had.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rob Delaney" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/willful-ignorance-or-resistance-to-alleged-facts-has-been-a-big/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ignorance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/willful-ignorance-or-resistance-to-alleged-facts-has-been-a-big/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/rob-delaney-12520_ignorance_willful-ignorance-or-resistance-to-alleg_315214.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/rob-delaney-12520_ignorance_willful-ignorance-or-resistance-to-alleg_315214.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/rob-delaney-12520_ignorance_willful-ignorance-or-resistance-to-alleg_315214.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Willful ignorance or resistance to alleged facts has been a big ingredient in any success I’ve had.” — Rob Delaney", "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": "Rob Delaney", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-delaney/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Willful ignorance or resistance to alleged...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/willful-ignorance-or-resistance-to-alleged-facts-has-been-a-big/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-delaney/willful-ignorance-or-resistance-to-alleged-facts-has-been-a-big/#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 } } ] } ```