Sometimes it's not enough to know what things mean, sometimes you have to know what things don't mean.

The line argues for “negative knowledge”: understanding is not only the ability to assign meanings, but also the discipline to rule out false, inflated, or convenient interpretations. It suggests that clarity often comes from boundaries—knowing what a word, symbol, or event cannot responsibly be made to signify. In a Dylan-adjacent frame, it also gestures toward the way audiences project narratives onto art and artists; resisting those projections can be as important as offering explanations. The remark values precision and humility: meaning is constrained by context, evidence, and intent, and misreadings can be powerful enough that they must be actively excluded, not merely ignored.