"Men of ill judgment ignore the good that lies within their hands, till they have lost it." (Sophocles, cca. 5th century BC)
"Ignorance does not exist apart from enlightenment; therefore, it cannot be destroyed [because one cannot destroy something which does not really exist], and yet it cannot not be destroyed [insofar as it remains]. This is like the relationship that exists between the water of the ocean [i.e., enlightenment] and its waves [i.e., modes of mind] stirred by the wind [i.e., ignorance]. Water and wind are inseparable; but water is not mobile by nature, and if the wind stops the movement ceases. But the wet nature remains undestroyed. Likewise, man's Mind, pure in its own nature, is stirred by the wind of ignorance. Both Mind and ignorance have no particular forms of their own and they are inseparable. Yet Mind is not mobile by nature, and if ignorance ceases, then the continuity of deluded activities ceases. But the essential nature of wisdom [i.e., the essence of Mind, like the wet nature of the water] remains undestroyed." (Ashvaghosha, "The Awakening of Faith", cca. 2nd century)
"The essence of all things is one and the same, perfectly calm and tranquil, and shows no sign of 'becoming'; ignorance, however, is in its blindness and delusion oblivious of Enlightenment, and, on that account, cannot recognize truthfully all those conditions, differences, and activities which characterize the phenomena of the Universe." (Ashvaghosha, "The Awakening of Faith", cca. 2nd century)
"The Mind, though pure in its self-nature from the beginning, is accompanied by ignorance. Being defiled by ignorance, a defiled state of Mind comes into being. But, though defiled, the Mind itself is eternal and immutable. Only the Enlightened Ones are able to understand what this means. What is called the essential nature of Mind is always beyond thoughts. It is, therefore, defined as 'immutable'. When the one World of Reality is yet to be realized, the Mind is mutable and is not in perfect unity with Suchness. Suddenly, a deluded thought arises; this state is called ignorance." (Ashvaghosha, "The Awakening of Faith", cca. 2nd century)
"The mind has five different names. The first is called the 'activating mind', for, without being aware of it, it breaks the equilibrium of mind by the force of ignorance. The second is called the 'evolving mind', for it emerges contingent upon the agitated mind as the subject that perceives incorrectly. The third is called the 'reproducing mind', for it reproduces the entire world of objects as a bright mirror reproduces all material images. When confronted with the objects of the five senses, it reproduces them at once. It arises spontaneously at all times and exists forever reproducing the world of objects in front of the subject. The fourth is called the 'analytical mind', for it differentiates what is defiled and what is undefiled. The fifth is called the 'continuing mind', for it is united with deluded thoughts and continues uninterrupted." (Ashvaghosha, "The Awakening of Faith", cca. 2nd century)
"Not engaging in ignorance is wisdom." (Bodhidharma, cca. 6th century)
"The ignorant mind, with its infinite afflictions, passions, and evils, is rooted in the three poisons. Greed, anger, and delusion." (Bodhidharma, cca. 6th century)
"As one lamp serves to dispel a thousand years of darkness, so one flash of wisdom destroys ten thousand years of ignorance." (Dajian Huineng, cca 7th century)
"The wisdom of the ignorant somewhat resembles the instinct of animals; it is diffused in but a very narrow sphere, but within the circle it acts with vigor, uniformity, and success." (Oliver Goldsmith, "The Miscellaneous Works of Dr. Goldsmith", 1792)
"Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal, and you will also have bliss. The Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance. The less your attachment is towards the senses, the more will be your love towards God." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, cca. 1886)
"Knowledge leads to unity, and Ignorance to diversity." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, cca. 1886)
"Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal, and you will also have bliss. The Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance. The less your attachment is towards the senses, the more will be your love towards God." (Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, cca. 1886)
"All knowledge, secular or spiritual, is in the human mind. In many cases it is not discovered but remains covered, and when the covering is being slowly taken off, we say, "We are learning." The advance of knowledge is made by the advance of this process of uncovering. The person from whom this veil is being lifted is the knowing person, the person upon whom it lies thick is ignorant, and the one from whom it has entirely gone is all-knowing." (Swami Vivekananda, 1895)
"Next to spiritual comes intellectual help; the gift of knowledge is a far higher gift... because the real life of man consists of knowledge; ignorance is death, knowledge is life." (Swami Vivekananda, "Karma-Yoga", 1896
"Strength, strength it is that we want so much in this life, for what we call sin and sorrow have all one cause, and that is our weakness. With weakness comes ignorance, and with ignorance comes misery." (Swami Vivekananda, "Reason and Religion". [lecture], 1896)
"Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal, and you will also have bliss. The Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance. The less your attachment is towards the senses, the more will be your love towards God." (Sri Ramakrishna, 1916)
"The way of yoga followed here has a different purpose from others, - for its aim is not only to rise out of the ordinary ignorant world-consciousness into the divine consciousness, but to bring the supramental power of that divine consciousness down into the ignorance of mind, life and body, to transform them, to manifest the Divine here and create a divine life in Matter." (Sri Aurobindo, "Lights on Yoga", 1935)
"Much that we hug today as knowledge is ignorance pure and simple. It makes the mind wander and even reduces it to a vacuity." (Mahatma Gandhi, "The Gandhi Sutras", 1949)
"Wisdom is the best guide and faith is the best companion. One must try to escape from the darkness of ignorance and suffering, and seek the light of Enlightenment." (Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, "The Teaching of Buddha", 1966) [attributed to Dalai Lama]
"All the Buddhas of all the ages have been telling you a very simple fact: Be - don't try to become. Within these two words - being and becoming, your whole life is contained. Being is enlightenment, becoming is ignorance." (Osho [Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh], "The Book of Wisdom", 1983)
"[...] whatever we see inside ourselves as bad arises from ignorance, which can and must be transformed into wisdom. When we begin to turn our mind inward and purify what we find there, the way will have been found, and all external situations will automatically become easier to deal with in a useful, positive way." (Akong Tulku Rinpoche, "Taming the Tiger: Tibetan Teachings for Improving Daily Life", 1987)
"Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one's awareness of one's ignorance." (Anthony de Mello, "One Minute Wisdom", 1988)
"Because we all share this small planet earth, we have to learn to live in harmony and peace with each other and with nature. That is not just a dream, but a necessity. We are dependent on each other in so many ways, that we can no longer live in isolated communities and ignore what is happening outside those communities, and we must share the good fortune that we enjoy." (Tenzin Gyatso [14th Dalai Lama], [Nobel lecture] 1989)
"A prerequisite to progress on the path is to realize that you are ignorant." (Sheng Yen, "Song of Mind: Wisdom from the Zen Classic Xin Ming", 2004)
"We must ask the question, 'What is actually going to do us good? What can we do that will actually be of benefit to ourselves?' Certainly, it is obvious that to callously and selfishly ignore the welfare of others and attempt to achieve our own well-being does not really help us. In fact, it harms us." (Gyalwa Karmapa,"Traveling the Path of Compassion: A Commentary on The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva", 2009)
"It is as true for individuals as it is for the world itself: everything comes in waves. If you ride the waves of change, you succeed. If you ignore them, you fail. When the wave is down, most people resist it by trying to go up. When the wave goes up, you should go up with it. When it comes down, you go down." (Koichi Tohei)
"The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply it; not having it, to confess your ignorance." (Confucius [attributed])
"Virtual immortality is the deepest ignorance of mankind. [...] On one hand, your so called ‘science’ has developed immensely over these years getting people closer and on the other hand, man-made technology has also developed enormous ignorance." (Mahavatar Babaji)
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