--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The more ignorant we become the less…" description: "\"“The more ignorant we become the less value we set on science, and the less inclination we shall have to seek it.”\" — Thomas Jefferson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d45/thomas-jefferson-43_ignorant_the-more-ignorant-we-become-the-less-val_2325839.jpg" --- # The more ignorant we become the less value we set on… ![“The more ignorant we become the less value we set on science, and the less inclination we shall have to seek it.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d45/thomas-jefferson-43_ignorant_the-more-ignorant-we-become-the-less-val_2325839.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d45/thomas-jefferson-43_ignorant_the-more-ignorant-we-become-the-less-val_2325839.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d45/thomas-jefferson-43_ignorant_the-more-ignorant-we-become-the-less-val_2325839.jpg) > ““The more ignorant we become the less value we set on science, and the less inclination we shall have to seek it.”” [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ignorance erodes respect for science and reduces the drive to pursue knowledge. **In simple terms:** Ignorance harms science respect. Key Takeaway Promote scientific literacy. Themes education science critical thinking Mood thoughtful urgent Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - school curricula - media consumption - policy making Key Concepts epistemology public understanding Questions to Reflect On - How can we counteract anti‑science sentiment? - What role does education play in valuing science? A Different Perspective Science can be politicized, limiting acceptance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ignorant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorant/) [Ignorant Value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorant-value-553373/) [Inclination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inclination/) [Inclination Shall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inclination-shall-3235631/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science Inclination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-inclination-5576600/) [Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand/) ## Related quotes > [I shall not do more than I can, and I shall do all I can to save the government, which is my sworn duty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-shall-not-do-more-than-i-can-and-i-shall-do-all-i-can-to-save-the/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. 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I like acting -delivering someone else's message - but writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/writing-is-something-i-took-up-rather-than-anything-i-had-an/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) ## More by Thomas Jefferson > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ \[States and the Federal government are\] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/states-and-the-federal-government-are-coordinate-departments-of-one/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-for-freedom-of-religion-and-against-all-maneuvers-to-bring-about/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/single-acts-of-tyranny-may-be-ascribed-to-the-accidental-opinion-of-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“Perceiving the order of nature to be that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue, I am willing to hope it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/perceiving-the-order-of-nature-to-be-that-individual-happiness-shall/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/free-government-is-founded-in-jealousy-and-not-in-confidence-it-is/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and never fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/though-you-cannot-see-when-you-take-one-step-what-will-be-the-next/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-well-informed-citizenry-is-the-best-defense-against-tyranny/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The two principles on which our conduct towards the Indians should be founded are justice and fear. After the injuries we have done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-two-principles-on-which-our-conduct-towards-the-indians-should-be/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Knowledge is power...knowled ge is safety...knowle dge is happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/knowledge-is-power-knowled-ge-is-safety-knowle-dge-is-happiness/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is... an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/there-is-an-artificial-aristocracy-founded-on-wealth-and-birth/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/nothing-but-free-argument-raillery-and-even-ridicule-will-preserve/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/when-the-people-are-afraid-of-the-government-that-s-tyranny-but-when/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/we-hold-these-truths-to-be-self-evident-that-all-men-are-created/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) [Explore all 2,098 Thomas Jefferson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## More Ignorant quotes > [Don't judge me because I'm stupid. Don't judge me because I'm, mean. Don't judge me because I'm weird. Don't judge me for mistakes. Because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-harden-me/don-t-judge-me-because-i-m-stupid-don-t-judge-me-because-i-m-mean-don/) [Isaiah Harden (Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-harden-me/) > [... 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/) > [The poor and ignorant will continue to lie and steal as long as the rich and educated show them how.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/the-poor-and-ignorant-will-continue-to-lie-and-steal-as-long-as-the/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [The masses are still ungrateful or ignorant. They prefer murder, poisonings, and crimes generally to a literature possessed of style and feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sand/the-masses-are-still-ungrateful-or-ignorant-they-prefer-murder/) [George Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sand/) > [The world is hard and cruel. We are here none knows why, and we go none knows whither. We must be very humble. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-world-is-hard-and-cruel-we-are-here-none-knows-why-and-we-go-none/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [The best lessons a man ever learns are from his mistakes. It is not for want of schoolmasters that we are still ignorant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/the-best-lessons-a-man-ever-learns-are-from-his-mistakes-it-is-not/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [If the civil magistrate be a Christian, a disciple or follower of the meek Lamb of God, he is bound to be far from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-williams/if-the-civil-magistrate-be-a-christian-a-disciple-or-follower-of-the/) [Roger Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-williams/) > [Further conceive, I beg, that a stone, while continuing in motion, should be capable of thinking and knowing, that it is endeavoring, as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/further-conceive-i-beg-that-a-stone-while-continuing-in-motion-should/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [...God does not possess a private knowledge of Himself and a separate knowledge of all the creatures in common. The universal Cause, by knowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-dionysius/god-does-not-possess-a-private-knowledge-of-himself-and-a-separate/) [Pope Dionysius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-dionysius/) > [Who does not know that kings and rulers sprang from men who were ignorant of God, who assumed because of blind greed and intolerable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-gregory-vii/who-does-not-know-that-kings-and-rulers-sprang-from-men-who-were/) [Pope Gregory VII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-gregory-vii/) > [Calvin: The more you know, the harder it is to take decisive action. Once you are informed, you start seeing complexities and shades of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/calvin-the-more-you-know-the-harder-it-is-to-take-decisive-action/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [Every single moment, an ignorant discovers an idea that has been known for centuries!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/every-single-moment-an-ignorant-discovers-an-idea-that-has-been-known/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Judging someone by the color of their skin is ignorant. 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