---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Stupidity is an unfortunate consequence…"
description: "\"“Stupidity is an unfortunate consequence of lousy genetic heritage. Ignorance is a choice.”\" — Rowan Manahan"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/rowan-manahan-274676_ignorance_stupidity-is-an-unfortunate-consequence_2767669.jpg"
---

#  Stupidity is an unfortunate consequence of lousy genetic…

![“Stupidity is an unfortunate consequence of lousy genetic heritage. Ignorance is a choice.” quote by Rowan Manahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/rowan-manahan-274676_ignorance_stupidity-is-an-unfortunate-consequence_2767669.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/rowan-manahan-274676_ignorance_stupidity-is-an-unfortunate-consequence_2767669.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/rowan-manahan-274676_ignorance_stupidity-is-an-unfortunate-consequence_2767669.jpg)

> ““Stupidity is an unfortunate consequence of lousy genetic heritage. Ignorance is a choice.””

[Rowan Manahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-manahan/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Ignorance is portrayed as a deliberate choice, while stupidity is framed as a genetic flaw, emphasizing personal responsibility for knowledge.

**In simple terms:** Ignorance is a choice; stupidity is inherited.

Key Takeaway

Choose education over ignorance.

Themes

responsibility knowledge genetics choice personal growth

Mood

thoughtful critical inquisitive

Type

Ignorance:1 Stupidity:1 Ignorance Choice:1 Lousy Genetic:0 Stupidity Unfortunate:0

When to use this quote

- personal development
- social commentary

Key Concepts

critical thinking self‑awareness education

Questions to Reflect On

- Do you accept responsibility for your knowledge gaps?
- Can genetics determine intellect?

A Different Perspective

Ignorance is a choice, not a destiny.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance Choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-choice-1068677/) [Lousy Genetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lousy-genetic-3218010/) [Stupidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupidity/) [Stupidity Unfortunate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupidity-unfortunate-3218011/)

## Related quotes

> [Stupidity always has been the unfortunate side effect of too much privilege. Nowhere has this been truer than in the United States, where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norah-vincent/stupidity-always-has-been-the-unfortunate-side-effect-of-too-much/)

[Norah Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norah-vincent/)

> [“Most ignorance is by choice, you know, and so ignorance is very telling about what really matters to people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/most-ignorance-is-by-choice-you-know-and-so-ignorance-is-very-telling/)

[Kim Stanley Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley-robinson/)

> [Stupid is a condition. Ignorance is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wiley-miller/stupid-is-a-condition-ignorance-is-a-choice/)

[Wiley Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wiley-miller/)

> [In the age of information, ignorance is a choice. Question everything. Don't believe everything you hear. Come to your own conclusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-patterson/in-the-age-of-information-ignorance-is-a-choice-question-everything/)

[Mark Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-patterson/)

> [In the age of information, ignorance is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-the-age-of-information-ignorance-is-a-choice/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [There is no slight danger from general ignorance; and the only choice which Providence has graciously left to a vicious government is either to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/there-is-no-slight-danger-from-general-ignorance-and-the-only-choice/)

[Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/)

> [Ours may become the first civilization destroyed, not by the power of our enemies, but by the ignorance of our teachers and the dangerous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/ours-may-become-the-first-civilization-destroyed-not-by-the-power-of/)

[Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/)

> [If ignorance is bliss, then more people should be happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dtk-smith/if-ignorance-is-bliss-then-more-people-should-be-happy/)

[David DtK Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dtk-smith/)

> [“I take from the poor and give to the rich. They just happen to be the same individuals. Poor and stupid before they learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sacredfire/i-take-from-the-poor-and-give-to-the-rich-they-just-happen-to-be-the/)

[Robin Sacredfire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sacredfire/)

> [“To heal the pain of another is to heal my own pain. Yet, some of the greatest pain that I can experience is found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-heal-the-pain-of-another-is-to-heal-my-own-pain-yet-some-of-the/)

[Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/)

> [Ignorance is expected by an idiot, but accepted by a fool!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ignorance-is-expected-by-an-idiot-but-accepted-by-a-fool/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ignorance-is-curable-stupid-is-forever/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

> [I run into a lot of ignorance and stupidity. It gets really frustrating, but you have to take yourself out of it and realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-carrera/i-run-into-a-lot-of-ignorance-and-stupidity-it-gets-really/)

[Carmen Carrera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-carrera/)

> [Ignorance is innocence - stupidity comes with experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-bronson-alcott/ignorance-is-innocence-stupidity-comes-with-experience/)

[Amos Bronson Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-bronson-alcott/)

> [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/)

## 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": "“Stupidity is an unfortunate consequence of lousy genetic heritage. Ignorance is a choice.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Rowan Manahan"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-manahan/stupidity-is-an-unfortunate-consequence-of-lousy-genetic-heritage/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Ignorance"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-manahan/stupidity-is-an-unfortunate-consequence-of-lousy-genetic-heritage/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/rowan-manahan-274676_ignorance_stupidity-is-an-unfortunate-consequence_2767669.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/rowan-manahan-274676_ignorance_stupidity-is-an-unfortunate-consequence_2767669.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/rowan-manahan-274676_ignorance_stupidity-is-an-unfortunate-consequence_2767669.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Stupidity is an unfortunate consequence of lousy genetic heritage. Ignorance is a choice.” — Rowan Manahan",
                "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": "Rowan Manahan",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-manahan/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Stupidity is an unfortunate consequence of...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-manahan/stupidity-is-an-unfortunate-consequence-of-lousy-genetic-heritage/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-manahan/stupidity-is-an-unfortunate-consequence-of-lousy-genetic-heritage/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
