what you don't know can't hurt you

phrase

If one does not know about a problem or a misdeed, one will not be able to render oneself unhappy by worrying about it.

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Meanings

phrase
  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.
    1 more example

    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.

    1981 December 12, Robert J. Nelson, quoting Leo Gallant, “Creating a People”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 21, page 7

Translations

Finnish se mitä ei tiedä ei voi satuttaa
  • se mitä ei tiedä ei voi satuttaaTranslations
French ce qu'on ignore ne peut pas nous faire de mal
  • ce qu'on ignore ne peut pas nous faire de malTranslations
Polish czego oczy nie widzą, tego sercu nie żal
  • czego oczy nie widzą, tego sercu nie żalTranslations
Swedish det man inte vet har man inte ont av
  • det man inte vet har man inte ont avTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

what you don't know can't hurt you. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/what%20you%20don't%20know%20can't%20hurt%20you

MLA

“what you don't know can't hurt you.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/what%20you%20don't%20know%20can't%20hurt%20you. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “what you don't know can't hurt you,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/what%20you%20don't%20know%20can't%20hurt%20you.

Source: what you don't know can't hurt you on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.