--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most people, including ourselves, live in…" description: "\"Most people, including ourselves, live in a world of relative ignorance. We are even comfortable with that ignorance, because it is all we know. When w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11f/socrates-405_able_most-people-including-ourselves-live-in_1330263.jpg" --- # Most people, including ourselves, live in a world of… ![“Most people, including ourselves, live in a world of relative ignorance. We are even comfortable with that ignorance, because it is all we know. When we first start facing truth, the process may be frightening, and many people run back to their old lives. But if you continue to seek truth, you…” quote by Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11f/socrates-405_able_most-people-including-ourselves-live-in_1330263.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11f/socrates-405_able_most-people-including-ourselves-live-in_1330263.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11f/socrates-405_able_most-people-including-ourselves-live-in_1330263.jpg) > “Most people, including ourselves, live in a world of relative ignorance. We are even comfortable with that ignorance, because it is all we know. When we first start facing truth, the process may be frightening, and many people run back to their old lives. But if you continue to seek truth, you will eventually be able to handle it better. In fact, you want more! It's true that many people around you now may think you are weird or even a danger to society, but you don't care. Once you've tasted the truth, you won't ever want to go back to being ignorant” [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Truth seeking challenges comfort; confronting reality can be unsettling but leads to deeper understanding. **In simple terms:** Seeking truth can be scary but rewarding. Key Takeaway Embrace discomfort to grow. Themes knowledge truth courage Mood thought‑provoking introspective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - academic study - personal belief revision - ethical decision making Key Concepts philosophy self‑realization social pressure Questions to Reflect On - What truth are you avoiding? - How does fear shape your learning? A Different Perspective Truth can alienate you from peers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Being ignorant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-ignorant/) [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Comfortable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfortable/) [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Don-t-care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/don-t-care/) [Facing Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facing-truth-469161/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Frightening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frightening/) [Handle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/handle/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance Comfortable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-comfortable-4462102/) [Ignorant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorant/) [Including](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/including/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Old life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-life/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Relative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relative/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Seek Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seek-truth/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Eventually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-eventually-490367/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“I think the day might come, Bess, when all men will know of Dickon is what they were told by Tudor historians like Rous."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-kay-penman/i-think-the-day-might-come-bess-when-all-men-will-know-of-dickon-is/) [Sharon Kay Penman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-kay-penman/) > [Never try to hide the truth because no matter how hard you try truth will eventually find its way out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/never-try-to-hide-the-truth-because-no-matter-how-hard-you-try-truth/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [Tell the truth, or eventually someone will tell it for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/tell-the-truth-or-eventually-someone-will-tell-it-for-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [How can one hide from the truth when it will eventually catch up with him. How can one evade reality when it is all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-matobo/how-can-one-hide-from-the-truth-when-it-will-eventually-catch-up-with/) [Frank Matobo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-matobo/) > [“Those who dance around the truth, will eventually slip and fall on it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-e-szymansk/those-who-dance-around-the-truth-will-eventually-slip-and-fall-on-it/) [Christine E. Szymansk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-e-szymansk/) > [The truth is that everyone will eventually hurt you, you just gotta know who's worth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristy-yang/the-truth-is-that-everyone-will-eventually-hurt-you-you-just-gotta/) [Kristy Yang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristy-yang/) > [No matter how hard you try to hide the truth. It eventually find its way out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-matter-how-hard-you-try-to-hide-the-truth-it-eventually-find-its/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The practice of deception is foolishness because the truth always eventually surfaces.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hayley-solich/the-practice-of-deception-is-foolishness-because-the-truth-always/) [Hayley Solich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hayley-solich/) > [We ask for what reason our Lord was unwilling to state the time of His coming (cf. Mk. 13:31-32). If we ask it, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose/we-ask-for-what-reason-our-lord-was-unwilling-to-state-the-time-of/) [Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose/) > [How can people be so stupid? I marvel at that. See, I think you have to work as being ignorant - and if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/how-can-people-be-so-stupid-i-marvel-at-that-see-i-think-you-have-to/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Better to be ignorant of a matter than half know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/better-to-be-ignorant-of-a-matter-than-half-know-it/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [Without willing it, I had gone from being ignorant of being ignorant to being aware of being aware. And the worst part of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/without-willing-it-i-had-gone-from-being-ignorant-of-being-ignorant-2/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [When someone refuses to tell me a certain piece of information, it only makes me that much more determined to find out the truth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/when-someone-refuses-to-tell-me-a-certain-piece-of-information-it/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [I have been accused of being ignorant of economics (although I am the founder and Chairman of the Board of a company which publishes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-demause/i-have-been-accused-of-being-ignorant-of-economics-although-i-am-the/) [Lloyd deMause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-demause/) > [Vietnam was an exercise in mistaken idealism Iraq in cynical money-making. And there's no optimism or idealism now -- Americans are tired of knowledge.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/vietnam-was-an-exercise-in-mistaken-idealism-iraq-in-cynical-money/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) ## More by Socrates > [By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/by-all-means-marry-if-you-get-a-good-wife-you-ll-be-happy-if-you-get/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [Falling down is not a failure. Failure comes when you stay where you have fallen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/falling-down-is-not-a-failure-failure-comes-when-you-stay-where-you/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [Do not go through life like leaf blown from here to there believing whatever you are told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/do-not-go-through-life-like-leaf-blown-from-here-to-there-believing/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [If the whole world depends on today's youth, I can't see the world lasting another 100 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/if-the-whole-world-depends-on-today-s-youth-i-can-t-see-the-world/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [“I only know, I know nothing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/i-only-know-i-know-nothing/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/i-cannot-teach-anybody-anything-i-can-only-make-them-think/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [If measure and symmetry are absent from any composition in any degree, ruin awaits both the ingredients and the composition... Measure and symmetry are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/if-measure-and-symmetry-are-absent-from-any-composition-in-any-degree/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [Marry a good woman, and be happy the rest of your life. Or, marry a bad, and become a good philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/marry-a-good-woman-and-be-happy-the-rest-of-your-life-or-marry-a-bad/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [“For the fear of death is indeed the pretense of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being a pretense of knowing the unknown; and no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/for-the-fear-of-death-is-indeed-the-pretense-of-wisdom-and-not-real/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [There is no difference between knowledge and temperance; for he who knows what is good and embraces it, who knows what is bad and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/there-is-no-difference-between-knowledge-and-temperance-for-he-who/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [Besides, it is a shame to let yourself grow old through neglect before seeing how you can develop the maximum beauty and strength of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/besides-it-is-a-shame-to-let-yourself-grow-old-through-neglect-before/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [The greatest blessing granted to mankind come by way of madness, which is a divine gift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/the-greatest-blessing-granted-to-mankind-come-by-way-of-madness-which/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [I desire only to know the truth, and to live as well as I can...And, to the utmost of my power, I exhort all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/i-desire-only-to-know-the-truth-and-to-live-as-well-as-i-can-and-to/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [So you would rather suffer an injustice than do an injustice?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/so-you-would-rather-suffer-an-injustice-than-do-an-injustice/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [The end of life is to be like unto God; and the soul following God, will be like unto Him; He being the beginning,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/the-end-of-life-is-to-be-like-unto-god-and-the-soul-following-god/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) [Explore all 579 Socrates quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) [Greg Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-perry/) > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It was an important period for us, because even though we weren't a "punk band", and what became a model for a punk band,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mallinder/it-was-an-important-period-for-us-because-even-though-we-weren-t-a/) [Stephen Mallinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mallinder/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) [Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Most people, including ourselves, live in a world of relative ignorance. We are even comfortable with that ignorance, because it is all we know. When we first start facing truth, the process may be frightening, and many people run back to their old lives. But if you continue to seek truth, you will eventually be able to handle it better. In fact, you want more! 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