WIST Quotations1d ago

A quotation from Samuel Johnson

Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1750-03-24), The Rambler, No. 2

More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/20042…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #advice #awareness #counsel #education #error #information #mistake #reminder #teaching #willfulignorance

Johnson, Samuel - Essay (1750-03-24), The Rambler, No. 2 | WIST Quotations

Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.

WIST Quotations
BellingenNSW5d ago

“History's what people are trying to hide from you, not what they're trying to show you. You search for it in the same way you sift through a landfill: for evidence of what people want to bury.” — Hilary Mantel, historical novelist

* Paraquat, Parkinson's Disease and Agnotology (The Deliberate Production of Ignorance)

"Nearly 60 years ago, a chemical company found that skin exposure to very high doses of its weedkiller paraquat caused “weakness and incoordination” in rabbits. Large amounts of the herbicide, which is used on corn, cotton, and vineyards, caused some mice and rats in its labs to develop a stiff gait or tremors. A decade later, an autopsy of a farm worker exposed to paraquat showed “degenerative change” in the “cells of the substantia nigra,” a pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease." >>
https://movementdisorders.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mds.29371

* "Australia's chemical regulator has approved the restricted use of the controversial herbicide paraquat, which has previously been linked to Parkinson's disease...The regulator's review of the herbicide has been underway since 1997...The decision comes weeks after Australia's top neurologists said they had been ignored by the chemical regulator." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2026-06-23/apvma-chemical-regulator-decision-paraquat-herbicide-parkinsons/106775018
#pesticides #agnotology #WillfulIgnorance #Paraquat #regulation #APVMA #food #health #IndustrialAgriculture #weedkillers #farmers #science

WIST QuotationsMar 24

A quotation from Ambrose Bierce

BOOK-LEARNING, n. The dunce’s derisive term for all knowledge that transcends his own impenitent ignorance.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Book-learning,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-05-14)

More about this quote: wist.info/bierce-ambrose/82789…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ambrosebierce #devilsdictionary #antiintellectualism #booklearning #books #dolt #dunce #education #ignorance #knowledge #learning #willfulignorance

Bierce, Ambrose - "Book-learning," "Devil's Dictionary" column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-05-14) | WIST Quotations

BOOK-LEARNING, n. The dunce’s derisive term for all knowledge that transcends his own impenitent ignorance. Not collected in later books.

WIST Quotations
Alanna 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Mar 16

"No point learning how to do x because AI can do it for me faster, why waste my time?" - is a really frustrating thing to hear when trying to teach people. Even if you want to use these "tools" you will use them better if you know what you are doing. Knowing how to use a coping saw means you are better at using a jigsaw or scrollsaw.

#aislop #WillfulIgnorance #antiintellectualism

BellingenNSWMar 9

Elevated levels of lead in childrens' blood from mining? We'd rather not know

NSW Health continues to use machine known to produce inaccurate results to test child blood lead levels >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/09/nsw-health-children-blood-lead-levels-test-machine-inaccurate-results

Environment watchdog buried report on lead in children’s blood to placate mining companies, emails show >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/05/
#mining #contamination #children #BrainDevelopment #lead #WillfulIgnorance #NSW #NegativeExternalities #EPA #harm

NSW Health continues to use machine known to produce inaccurate results to test child blood lead levels

LeadCare II offers point-of-care testing but the equipment has had recalls globally due to the potential for inaccurately low readings

The Guardian
WIST QuotationsFeb 25

A quotation from Douglas Adams

   “Oh, all right,” said the old man. “Here’s a prayer for you. Got a pencil?”
   “Yes,” said Arthur.
   “It goes like this. Let’s see now: ‘Protect me from knowing what I don’t need to know. Protect me from even knowing that there are things to know that I don’t know. Protect me from knowing that I decided not to know about the things that I decided not to know about. Amen.’ That’s it. It’s what you say silently inside yourself anyway, so you may as well have it out in the open.”
   “Hmmmm,” said Arthur. “Well, thank you –”
   “There’s another prayer that goes with it that’s very important,” continued the old man, “so you’d better jot this down, too.”
   “Okay.”
   “It goes, ‘Lord, lord, lord …’ It’s best to put that bit in, just in case. You can never be too sure. ‘Lord, lord, lord. Protect me from the consequences of the above prayer. Amen.’ And that’s it. Most of the trouble people get into in life comes form leaving out that last part.”

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Hitchhiker’s Guide No. 5, Mostly Harmless, ch. 9 (1992)

More about this quote: wist.info/adams-douglas/82307/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #douglasadams #mostlyharmless #hitchhikersguide #hitchhikersguidetothegalaxy #consequences #ignorance #knowledge #prayer #protection #trouble #willfulignorance

Adams, Douglas - Hitchhiker's Guide No. 5, Mostly Harmless, ch. 9 (1992) | WIST Quotations

"Oh, all right," said the old man. "Here's a prayer for you. Got a pencil?" "Yes," said Arthur. "It goes like this. Let's see now: 'Protect me from knowing what I don't need to know. Protect me from even knowing that there are things to know that I don't know.…

WIST Quotations
DouJan 25

https://educatedkanak.liberta.vip/why-did-you-come-to-germany-on-complicity-and-willful-ignorance/

Many migrants know this question: “Why did you come to Germany?” I write about why it’s rarely as innocent as it sounds. We often talk about migration as if it were just a personal decision — ignoring wars, repression, the arms trade, and Europe’s part in all of it. I try to unpack what it means to be asked such a personal question in that larger context.

#ImmigrationNarratives #WillfulIgnorance #Curiosity #Germany #Immigration

@writingcommunity

"Why Did You Come to Germany?": On Complicity and Willful Ignorance

Your Well-Educated Kanak is primarily a blog where I vent and reflect on my immigration experiences

Your Well-educated Kanak
WIST QuotationsJan 15

A quotation from Arthur Conan Doyle

   My surprise reached a climax, however, when I found incidentally that he was ignorant of the Copernican Theory and of the composition of the Solar System. That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it. […] “But the Solar System!” I protested.
   “What the deuce is it to me?” he interrupted impatiently; “you say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work.”

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
Story (1886-04), “A Study in Scarlet,” Part 1, ch. 2, Beeton’s Christmas Annual, Vol. 28 (1887-11-21)

More about this quote: wist.info/doyle-arthur-conan/8…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arthurconandoyle #ignorance #pertinence #science #sherlockholmes #willfulignorance

Doyle, Arthur Conan - Story (1886-04), "A Study in Scarlet," Part 1, ch. 2, Beeton's Christmas Annual, Vol. 28 (1887-11-21) | WIST Quotations

My surprise reached a climax, however, when I found incidentally that he was ignorant of the Copernican Theory and of the composition of the Solar System. That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to…

WIST Quotations
WIST QuotationsDec 23, 2025

A quotation from Ambrose Bierce

BOOK-LEARNING, n. The dunce’s derisive term for all knowledge that transcends his own impenitent ignorance.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Book-learning,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-05-14)

More about this quote: wist.info/bierce-ambrose/80990…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ambrosebierce #devilsdictionary #derision #sourgrapes #dolt #education #ignorance #knowledge #school #willfulignorance

"Book-learning," "Devil's Dictionary" column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-05-14) - Bierce, Ambrose | WIST Quotations

BOOK-LEARNING, n. The dunce’s derisive term for all knowledge that transcends his own impenitent ignorance. Not collected in later books.

WIST Quotations
Jeremy MallinDec 19, 2025

Why the Hell are Americans surprised that their regime officials who already repeatedly broke laws, including rigging and stealing elections, are now breaking laws (still)?

#USPolitics #Denial? #WillfulIgnorance?