The line comes from Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) who was an English poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, published in 1751.He is well known for his phrase, “where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.” The phrase, from Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College, is possibly one of the most misconstrued phrases in English literature. Gray is not promoting ignorance, but is reflecting with nostalgia on a time when he was allowed to be ignorant, his youth (1742)the last verse of his poem is:
To each his sufferings: 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 wise.
The line comes from Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) who was an English poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, published in 1751.He is well known for his phrase, “where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.” The phrase, from Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College, is possibly one of the most misconstrued phrases in English literature. Gray is not promoting ignorance, but is reflecting with nostalgia on a time when he was allowed to be ignorant, his youth (1742)the last verse of his poem is:
To each his sufferings: 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 wise.