what you don't know can't hurt you en · X
Meanings
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If one does not know about a problem or a misdeed, one will not be able to render oneself unhappy by worrying about it.
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:
Relateds
ignorance is bliss · wilful ignorance · long ways, long lies · out of sight, out of mind
Translations (4)
fr ce qu'on ignore ne peut pas nous faire de mal (Translations) · sv det man inte vet har man inte ont av (Translations) · fi se mitä ei tiedä ei voi satuttaa (Translations) · pl czego oczy nie widzą, tego sercu nie żal (Translations)