Everyone's heard this statement before but I only just read the full quote, or proverb, which is taken from a 1742 poem. It seems fitting to share it.
'Thought would destroy their paradise;
Where ignorance is bliss - it is folly to be wise.'
Ignorance is bliss.
by joey jojo 2 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
days of future passed
That says it all.
-
Anders Andersen
Wow, thanks for sharing!
I dug a bit more. The quoted part is from the 1742 poem "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College" by Thomas Gray.
'Ignorance is bliss' comes from the last stanza:To each his suff'rings: all are men,
Condemn'd alike to groan,
The tender for another's pain;
Th' unfeeling for his own.
Yet ah! why should they know their fate?
Since sorrow never comes too late,
And happiness too swiftly flies.
Thought would destroy their paradise.
No more; where ignorance is bliss,
'Tis folly to be wiseA bit more info on the poem (and full text) can be found here: https://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides8/Eton.html
It's interesting to note that the poet basically said 'those youths don't know what pains they will suffer later in life; that would destroy their current happy state of mind. Their ignorance of their future is bliss for them.'
Although the author apparently didn't mean 'ignorance is bliss' in the general sense, it quite similar for JW. Their current blissful state of mind can only exist because they don't realize yet their futures. They don't realize neither Armageddon nor Paradise will ever come. They'll grow old and die, like everyone they know.
Like the students at Eton College, their happiness depends on them not knowing their future (and a whole lot of facts too)...