Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Admitting what we don't know keeps humanity open to progress and prevents stagnation.
In plain terms
Acknowledging ignorance allows us to keep moving forward.
What can you take from it?
Humility about knowledge fuels continuous human progress.

Where it applies

  • scientific discussions
  • policy making
  • personal growth

Putting it to work

  • encourage questioning
  • admit unknowns

Questions to consider

  • How does admitting ignorance help you?
  • When is certainty dangerous?

Another view

Some decisions require certainty even if incomplete.

More from Richard Feynman

  1. If you can't explain something to a first year student, then you haven't really understood it.

    Permalink to quote #67
  2. It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong.

    Permalink to quote #69
  3. I cannot define the real problem, therefore I suspect there's no real problem, but I'm not sure there's no real problem.

    Permalink to quote #66

Related quotes

  1. If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders.

    Hal AbelsonHal Abelson quote #1
  2. 'I belong to the don't-know school of economics.'

    Herbert SteinHerbert Stein quote #2
  3. [A]s a graduate student at Columbia University, I remember the a priori derision of my distinguished stratigraphy professor toward a visiting Australian drifte…

    Stephen Jay GouldStephen Jay Gould quote #9