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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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'ignorance is bliss'
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A quotation which has long appealed to schoolchildren, unaware of its original meaning or that it was first applied directly to them. It comes from Thomas *Gray's Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (1742, publ. 1747). The poet envies the schoolboys their childish ignorance of the sorrows which will come with adult life: ...Where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise.
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