He who knows nothing of anything lives contentedly — ignorance is bliss. The person unaware of the world's troubles, complexities, and injustices lives a simpler and perhaps happier life than the one burdened with knowledge. A wry observation about the cost of awareness.
This proverb exists in productive tension with the many Sicilian proverbs about the value of knowledge, wisdom, and experience. Its counterpoint was necessary: the recognition that there were some things better not known, some complexities better not understood, some truths that once seen could not be unseen. The old woman in the village who never read a newspaper and was content with her garden and her grandchildren — she lived well by not knowing about the wars, the political scandals, the economic crises. The man who learned about his wife's infidelity could never unknow it. Knowledge carried responsibilities and pains that ignorance was spared. The proverb was said with a mixture of envy and irony: envy for the blissfully ignorant, irony in the recognition that the speaker was already too aware to return to that state.
A Sicilian reflection on the paradox of knowledge and happiness. 'Nenti di nenti' = niente di niente (nothing of anything), 'campa cuntentu' = vive contento (lives contentedly). Pairs with the English 'ignorance is bliss.' Used with irony across all of Sicily.
After following the news obsessively and feeling worse
Più leggo, più sto male. Cu non sapi nenti di nenti, campa cuntentu — mia nonna non leggeva i giornali e aveva novant'anni.
The more I read, the worse I feel. He who knows nothing of anything lives contentedly — my grandmother did not read newspapers and lived to ninety.
Envying someone who seems blissfully unaware of everything
È felice perché non sa quello che sta succedendo. Cu non sapi nenti di nenti, campa cuntentu — gli invidio quella leggerezza.
He is happy because he does not know what is happening. He who knows nothing of anything lives contentedly — I envy him that lightness.
After learning an uncomfortable truth
Avrei preferito non saperlo. Cu non sapi nenti di nenti, campa cuntentu — certa conoscenza è un peso.
I would have preferred not to know it. He who knows nothing of anything lives contentedly — certain knowledge is a weight.
Reflecting ironically on the price of awareness
Ho studiato, ho letto, ho capito il mondo. Cu non sapi nenti di nenti, campa cuntentu — e io non campo affatto contento.
I studied, I read, I understood the world. He who knows nothing of anything lives contentedly — and I am not content at all.