--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The greater the ignorance the greater the…" description: "\"The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.\" — William Osler" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/william-osler-2992_dogmatism_the-greater-the-ignorance-the-greater-th_2875988.png" --- # The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism. ![“The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.” quote by William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/william-osler-2992_dogmatism_the-greater-the-ignorance-the-greater-th_2875988.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/william-osler-2992_dogmatism_the-greater-the-ignorance-the-greater-th_2875988.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/william-osler-2992_dogmatism_the-greater-the-ignorance-the-greater-th_2875988.png) > “The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.” [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ignorance fuels rigid dogma; lack of knowledge breeds certainty. **In simple terms:** Not knowing leads to stubbornness. Key Takeaway Seek knowledge before forming fixed beliefs. Themes ignorance dogmatism learning humility Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - medical education - public policy debates - personal belief formation - critical thinking workshops Key Concepts epistemology psychology science Questions to Reflect On - How do you handle uncertainty? - When have you changed a belief after learning? A Different Perspective Dogmatism can persist even with evidence if identity is threatened. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dogmatism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dogmatism/) [Greater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater/) [Greater Dogmatism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater-dogmatism-3959689/) [Greater Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater-ignorance-1298691/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance Greater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-greater-817408/) ## Related quotes > [Often, the greater our ignorance about something, the greater our resistance to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-bekoff/often-the-greater-our-ignorance-about-something-the-greater-our/) [Marc Bekoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-bekoff/) > [Nothing could be more beneficial for even the most zealous searcher for knowledge than his being in fact most learned in that very ignorance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-of-cusa/nothing-could-be-more-beneficial-for-even-the-most-zealous-searcher/) [Nicholas of Cusa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-of-cusa/) > [Don't talk too much because ignorance is greater and more dangerous than your knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/don-t-talk-too-much-because-ignorance-is-greater-and-more-dangerous/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [There is no greater wealth than wisdom, no greater poverty than ignorance; no greater heritage than culture and no greater support than consultation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-no-greater-wealth-than-wisdom-no-greater-poverty-than/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-greater-our-knowledge-increases-the-greater-our-ignorance-unfolds/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The greater their ignorance, the stronger their opinions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-follett/the-greater-their-ignorance-the-stronger-their-opinions/) [Ken Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-follett/) > [“Ignorance is the thing that we attribute to everyone else, which is a far greater ignorance than that which we’re accusing everyone else of.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/ignorance-is-the-thing-that-we-attribute-to-everyone-else-which-is-a/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“Nowadays he avoided political discussions with outsiders. They usually had easy answers: send all the Mexicans home, put Hells Angels in the army, castrate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-follett/nowadays-he-avoided-political-discussions-with-outsiders-they-usually/) [Ken Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-follett/) > [There is no sin greater than ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/there-is-no-sin-greater-than-ignorance/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [“Wisdom on its worst day is greater than ignorance on its best day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/wisdom-on-its-worst-day-is-greater-than-ignorance-on-its-best-day/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“When ethnic cleansing feels enlightened, Sinai becomes septic, Bethlehem becomes Bedlam.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/when-ethnic-cleansing-feels-enlightened-sinai-becomes-septic/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [If I have renounced the search of truth, if I have come into the port of some pretending dogmatism, some new church, some Schelling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-i-have-renounced-the-search-of-truth-if-i-have-come-into-the-port/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Textbooks, it seems to me, are enemies of education, instruments for promoting dogmatism and trivial learning. They may save the teacher some trouble, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/textbooks-it-seems-to-me-are-enemies-of-education-instruments-for/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [The idea of freedom can never be disassociated from real Prussia. The real Prussian spirit means a synthesis between restraint and freedom, between voluntary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-von-tresckow/the-idea-of-freedom-can-never-be-disassociated-from-real-prussia-the/) [Henning von Tresckow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-von-tresckow/) > [“Dogmatism compensates for evidence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-wallace/dogmatism-compensates-for-evidence/) [Dana Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-wallace/) ## More by William Osler > [As it can be maintained that all the great advances have come from men under forty, so the history of the world shows that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/as-it-can-be-maintained-that-all-the-great-advances-have-come-from/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [No man is really happy or safe without a hobby ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/no-man-is-really-happy-or-safe-without-a-hobby/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [But whatever you do, take neither yourselves nor your fellow-creatures too seriously. There is tragedy enough in our daily routine, but there is room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/but-whatever-you-do-take-neither-yourselves-nor-your-fellow-creatures/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [Without egotism and full of feeling, laughter is the music of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/without-egotism-and-full-of-feeling-laughter-is-the-music-of-life/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [The librarian of today, and it will be true still more of the librarians of tomorrow, are not fiery dragons interposed between the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-librarian-of-today-and-it-will-be-true-still-more-of-the/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [The best preparation for tomorrow is to do today's work superbly well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-best-preparation-for-tomorrow-is-to-do-today-s-work-superbly-well/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [Throw away all ambition beyond that of doing the day's work well. The travelers on the road to success live in the present, heedless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/throw-away-all-ambition-beyond-that-of-doing-the-day-s-work-well-the/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [The very first step towards success in any occupation is to become interested in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-very-first-step-towards-success-in-any-occupation-is-to-become/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [The trained nurse has become one of the great blessings of humanity, taking a place beside the physician and the priest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-trained-nurse-has-become-one-of-the-great-blessings-of-humanity/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [He who studies medicine without books sails an uncharted sea, but he who studies medicine without patients does not go to sea at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/he-who-studies-medicine-without-books-sails-an-uncharted-sea-but-he/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [In seeking absolute truth we aim at the unattainable and must be content with broken portions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/in-seeking-absolute-truth-we-aim-at-the-unattainable-and-must-be/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [Shed, as you do your garments, your daily sins, whether of omission or commission, and you will wake a free man, with a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/shed-as-you-do-your-garments-your-daily-sins-whether-of-omission-or/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [He who knows syphilis knows medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/he-who-knows-syphilis-knows-medicine/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [Laughter is the music of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/laughter-is-the-music-of-life/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [Beware of people who call you 'Doc.' They rarely pay their bills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/beware-of-people-who-call-you-doc-they-rarely-pay-their-bills/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) [Explore all 143 William Osler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) ## More Dogmatism quotes > [“Dogmatism compensates for evidence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-wallace/dogmatism-compensates-for-evidence/) [Dana Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-wallace/) > [The idea of freedom can never be disassociated from real Prussia. The real Prussian spirit means a synthesis between restraint and freedom, between voluntary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-von-tresckow/the-idea-of-freedom-can-never-be-disassociated-from-real-prussia-the/) [Henning von Tresckow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-von-tresckow/) > [Textbooks, it seems to me, are enemies of education, instruments for promoting dogmatism and trivial learning. They may save the teacher some trouble, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/textbooks-it-seems-to-me-are-enemies-of-education-instruments-for/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [If I have renounced the search of truth, if I have come into the port of some pretending dogmatism, some new church, some Schelling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-i-have-renounced-the-search-of-truth-if-i-have-come-into-the-port/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“When ethnic cleansing feels enlightened, Sinai becomes septic, Bethlehem becomes Bedlam.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/when-ethnic-cleansing-feels-enlightened-sinai-becomes-septic/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“For it is the fate of every myth to creep by degrees into the narrow limits of some alleged historical reality, and to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/for-it-is-the-fate-of-every-myth-to-creep-by-degrees-into-the-narrow/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“She was not only unable to make the least allowance for a divergence from this way, but utterly unable to conceive that another existed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-robert-maturin/she-was-not-only-unable-to-make-the-least-allowance-for-a-divergence/) [Charles Robert Maturin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-robert-maturin/) > [Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/dogmatism-and-skepticism-are-both-in-a-sense-absolute-philosophies/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Nothing can be more unphilosophical than to be positive or dogmatical on any subject; and even if excessive scepticism could be maintained it would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/nothing-can-be-more-unphilosophical-than-to-be-positive-or-dogmatical/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“The claim that there is no alternative but perdition to a worldview that shows how everything fits together and makes perfect sense is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/the-claim-that-there-is-no-alternative-but-perdition-to-a-worldview/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [“While missionaries do many noble things at great risk to themselves, their dogmatism still spreads ignorance and death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/while-missionaries-do-many-noble-things-at-great-risk-to-themselves/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [It is sometimes said that toleration should be refused to the intolerant. In practice this would destroy it... The only remedy for dogmatism and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-cary/it-is-sometimes-said-that-toleration-should-be-refused-to-the/) [Joyce Cary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-cary/) > [“There is always the danger that those who think alike should gravitate together into ‘coteries’ where they will henceforth encounter opposition only in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/there-is-always-the-danger-that-those-who-think-alike-should/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [it is not that religion is merely useless, it is mischievous. It is mischievous by its idle terrors; it is mischievous by its false…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/it-is-not-that-religion-is-merely-useless-it-is-mischievous-it-is/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [An isolated person requires correspondence as a means of seeing his ideas as others see them, and thus guarding against the dogmatisms and extravagances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/an-isolated-person-requires-correspondence-as-a-means-of-seeing-his/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) [Browse all 109 Dogmatism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dogmatism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Osler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-greater-the-ignorance-the-greater-the-dogmatism/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dogmatism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-greater-the-ignorance-the-greater-the-dogmatism/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/william-osler-2992_dogmatism_the-greater-the-ignorance-the-greater-th_2875988.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/william-osler-2992_dogmatism_the-greater-the-ignorance-the-greater-th_2875988.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/137/william-osler-2992_dogmatism_the-greater-the-ignorance-the-greater-th_2875988.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.” — William Osler", "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": "William Osler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The greater the ignorance the greater...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-greater-the-ignorance-the-greater-the-dogmatism/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-greater-the-ignorance-the-greater-the-dogmatism/#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 } } ] } ```