what you don't know can't hurt you

English

Phrase

what you don't know can't hurt you

1. If one does not know about a problem or a misdeed, one will not be able to render oneself unhappy by worrying about it.
   • 1981 December 12, Robert J. Nelson, quoting Leo Gallant, “Creating a People”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 21, page 7:

     So they put me on the payroll, and I guess Father Paul Shanley in Boston and I were the first to get paid for picking up hustlers! The salary order went all the way to Cardinal Cooke's office, and he approved it personally. But they never realized I wasn't trying to convert people to being straight. I'm sure they thought I was just bringing sinners into the fold, which is probably what my superiors think now. What they don't know won't hurt them.

Usage notes

• Often used to justify not informing someone about a problem or misdeed.

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: se mitä ei tiedä ei voi satuttaa
• French: ce qu’on ignore ne peut pas nous faire de mal
• Polish: czego oczy nie widzą, tego sercu nie żal (pl)
• Swedish: det man inte vet har man inte ont av

See also

• out of sight, out of mind
• ignorance is bliss
• willful ignorance
• long ways, long lies