--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But not to know error is to lie, is to…" description: "\"“But not to know error is to lie, is to spit up poison through the harrowing margins of weakened mineral campaigns. It is the deeply filtered and the w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37c/will-alexander-57479_poetry_but-not-to-know-error-is-to-lie-is-to-sp_342846.jpg" --- # But not to know error is to lie, is to spit up poison… ![“But not to know error is to lie, is to spit up poison through the harrowing margins of weakened mineral campaigns. It is the deeply filtered and the wretched who deny this, who test themselves with exoteric perfection, who turn their branded melodias to simple outward gain. In contrast to the…” quote by Will Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37c/will-alexander-57479_poetry_but-not-to-know-error-is-to-lie-is-to-sp_342846.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37c/will-alexander-57479_poetry_but-not-to-know-error-is-to-lie-is-to-sp_342846.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37c/will-alexander-57479_poetry_but-not-to-know-error-is-to-lie-is-to-sp_342846.jpg) > ““But not to know error is to lie, is to spit up poison through the harrowing margins of weakened mineral campaigns. It is the deeply filtered and the wretched who deny this, who test themselves with exoteric perfection, who turn their branded melodias to simple outward gain. In contrast to the rotation of immensity, to the treble glare of inward cyclical rarity, such outward wit carries less than the power of negation.”” [Will Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-alexander/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques superficial knowledge and self‑deception, suggesting that ignoring errors is harmful and that true insight requires confronting inner complexities rather than seeking outward validation. **In simple terms:** Ignoring mistakes is harmful; true insight needs inner work. Key Takeaway Seek depth, avoid superficial perfection. Themes self‑deception knowledge inner truth perfectionism Mood reflective critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - personal growth - academic research - creative writing - leadership decisions Key Concepts philosophy critical thinking psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront your own errors? - What does inner rarity mean to you? A Different Perspective It may be overly abstract, making practical application difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [“you sat breeding multiple & varied as a ghost”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-alexander/you-sat-breeding-multiple-varied-as-a-ghost/) [Will Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-alexander/) > [“being water i am the voltage of rocks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-alexander/being-water-i-am-the-voltage-of-rocks/) [Will Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-alexander/) > [“your irrational range true suffering as flamboyance as starving carnivore as disappearance”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-alexander/your-irrational-range-true-suffering-as-flamboyance-as-starving/) [Will Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-alexander/) > [“As a king, I have specified 2 urns as my backdrop, I have drank a cold Islamic green from my goblet, I have surveyed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-alexander/as-a-king-i-have-specified-2-urns-as-my-backdrop-i-have-drank-a-cold/) [Will Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-alexander/) > [“I do not know where the error lies. I do not pretend to set people right, but I do see they are often wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-do-not-know-where-the-error-lies-i-do-not-pretend-to-set-people/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Between an Error and a Lie, there are Worlds – an Error is an unintended Mistake, a Lie is an intentional Audacity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sino-melo/between-an-error-and-a-lie-there-are-worlds-an-error-is-an-unintended/) [Sino Melo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sino-melo/) > [Hal, if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/hal-if-i-tell-thee-a-lie-spit-in-my-face-call-me-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“The war of 1914–18 was the absolute negation of everything that Clausewitz had stood”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-munro-clark/the-war-of-1914-18-was-the-absolute-negation-of-everything-that/) [Christopher Munro Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-munro-clark/) > [It's impossible for a creative artist to be either a Puritan or a Fascist, because both are a negation of the creative urge. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liam-o-flaherty/it-s-impossible-for-a-creative-artist-to-be-either-a-puritan-or-a/) [Liam O'Flaherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liam-o-flaherty/) > [Self-negation is noble, self-culture beneficent, self-possession is manly, but to the truly great and inspiring soul they are poor and tame compared with self-abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-julius-ii/self-negation-is-noble-self-culture-beneficent-self-possession-is/) Pope Julius II > [Art, unlike the trades in the artistic capacity of fashion and food, can literally be anything. 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Our lives provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/even-if-you-tried-to-extinguish-your-personality-what-is-left-in-the/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [“It's part of our overall Body Negation Program.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/it-s-part-of-our-overall-body-negation-program/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) ## More by Will Alexander > [“As a king, I have specified 2 urns as my backdrop, I have drank a cold Islamic green from my goblet, I have surveyed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-alexander/as-a-king-i-have-specified-2-urns-as-my-backdrop-i-have-drank-a-cold/) [Will Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-alexander/) > [“your irrational range true suffering as flamboyance as starving carnivore as disappearance”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-alexander/your-irrational-range-true-suffering-as-flamboyance-as-starving/) [Will Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-alexander/) > [“in this you have failed you have invalidated your dysfunctional efforts of innocence of perverted virginity with a mangy face before the eye of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-alexander/in-this-you-have-failed-you-have-invalidated-your-dysfunctional/) [Will Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-alexander/) > [“being water i am the voltage of rocks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-alexander/being-water-i-am-the-voltage-of-rocks/) [Will Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-alexander/) > [“you sat breeding multiple & varied as a ghost”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-alexander/you-sat-breeding-multiple-varied-as-a-ghost/) [Will Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-alexander/) [Explore all 6 Will Alexander quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-alexander/) ## More Negation quotes > [“It's part of our overall Body Negation Program.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/it-s-part-of-our-overall-body-negation-program/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [Even if you tried to extinguish your personality, what is left in the story will reflect it, perhaps by its negation. 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It can be the negation of itself and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-phillips/art-unlike-the-trades-in-the-artistic-capacity-of-fashion-and-food/) [Richard Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-phillips/) > [Self-negation is noble, self-culture beneficent, self-possession is manly, but to the truly great and inspiring soul they are poor and tame compared with self-abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-julius-ii/self-negation-is-noble-self-culture-beneficent-self-possession-is/) Pope Julius II > [It's impossible for a creative artist to be either a Puritan or a Fascist, because both are a negation of the creative urge. 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Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Government is essentially the negation of liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/government-is-essentially-the-negation-of-liberty/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [“In general, every negation must depend on the rejection of an affirmation or proposition, which means that emptiness as a nonimplicative negation is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-brunnholzl/in-general-every-negation-must-depend-on-the-rejection-of-an/) [Karl Brunnholzl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-brunnholzl/) > [Nihilism is but the other side of conventionalism; its creed consists of negations of the current so-called positive values, to which it remains bound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/nihilism-is-but-the-other-side-of-conventionalism-its-creed-consists/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [My work...is to shatter the faith of men here, there, and everywhere, faith in affirmation, faith in negation, and faith in abstention from faith,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-unamuno/my-work-is-to-shatter-the-faith-of-men-here-there-and-everywhere/) [Miguel de Unamuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-unamuno/) > [“As Hegel defines it: "Thinking is, indeed, essentially the negation of that which is before us." ... Reason is the negation of the negative.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/as-hegel-defines-it-thinking-is-indeed-essentially-the-negation-of/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [Large department stores, with their luxuriant abundance of canned goods, foods, and clothing, are like the primary landscape and the geometrical locus of affluence.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/large-department-stores-with-their-luxuriant-abundance-of-canned/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) Browse all 160 Negation quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But not to know error is to lie, is to spit up poison through the harrowing margins of weakened mineral campaigns. It is the deeply filtered and the wretched who deny this, who test themselves with exoteric perfection, who turn their branded melodias to simple outward gain. 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