I Don't Know Quotes

“People cheat when they are afraid. When there is no cost to being wrong or confessing ignorance, there is no reason to cheat or fake comprehension.”
― Leah Hager Cohen, I Don't Know: In Praise of Admitting Ignorance

“Our civic life is heavily marked—indeed, pocked—by debates in which each side is so certain of its position that any movement is effectively impossible. For that matter, debate—in its original sense of “to consider something, to deliberate”—is impossible. We wind up with so much sound and fury and nothing gained.”
― Leah Hager Cohen, I Don't Know: In Praise of Admitting Ignorance

“Is there a wrong way to say “I don’t know”? Yes. When we declare ignorance, it should be a) honest and b) in the spirit of opening ourselves up to hearing, to learning, to receiving. When we say “I don’t know” under these conditions, the words can forge connection, healing, growth. But when we resist or disavow knowledge, when we profess ignorance as a way of donning armor and evading accountability, then we make a mockery of those words, and we rupture connections not only with others but within ourselves, within our souls.”
― Leah Hager Cohen, I Don't Know: In Praise of Admitting Ignorance

“The ignorance we’re ignorant of is the ignorance most difficult to remedy.”
― Leah Hager Cohen, I Don't Know: In Praise of Admitting Ignorance

“The ability to know one’s limitations, to recognize the bounds of one’s own comprehension—this is a kind of knowing that approaches wisdom.”
― Leah Hager Cohen, I Don't Know: In Praise of Admitting Ignorance

“That our intuition could lead us astray is troubling in direct proportion to the degree of trust we place in it. The solution would seem to be: Don’t be overly trusting. Mix in a healthy dose of skepticism. But suppose we don’t have a say in the matter? Suppose we’re hardwired to trust—to believe in—our instincts, regardless of whether they’re right? Suddenly the problem of not knowing becomes a lot more complicated.”
― Leah Hager Cohen, I Don't Know: In Praise of Admitting Ignorance

“Fakery is a vital currency in our social intercourse. That’s not necessarily all bad. A lot of the time we pretend as a way of fortifying or easing connections. When we feign recognition, for example, or delight in seeing someone, or gladness to go out of our way, these are acts of goodwill. At best, pretense can be a form of kindness.”
― Leah Hager Cohen, I Don't Know: In Praise of Admitting Ignorance