Do you believe this?"what you don't know can't hurt you" and do you know who said this?please advise.thanks.

no I sure don't. let's say you have very early stage cancer that can be cured if caught but if you don't know it until it spreads it can kill you and its too late.

let's say certain of my behaviors is pushing my husband away and he doesn't tell me it could ruin our marriage.

'can't hurt you' is simply as I see it a form of denial. I can see this in extreme cases where there is nothing, I mean nothing I can do about a situation such as a giantic meteoroid about to crash into the earth and blow it into a billion pieces! then yes I would rather not know!!!

it could also apply to eating something really weird and disgusting but not knowing it because of the way it is prepared it taste great! of course it is harmless to eat it but you would throw up if you knew what it was!!!

so, the way I see it, it comes down to the type of situation. Is it helpful for me to know or not helpful.

Like a lot of these old proverbs, there's no known source, and its truth is dependent on the circumstance.

For example, both diseases and gossip can hurt you whether you know about them or not: diseases, by acting on your physical body; and gossip, by acting on how people treat you.

On the other hand, let's say a friend of mine thinks my pet rabbit is ugly and gross. I don't want or need to know that. Only were I to find out would I be hurt.

i don't know who said it, and i sure as HELL don't believe it
i just found out i have melanoma and had surgery for it. if i hadn't found out about it i could be dead within 10 years
(i'm only 17)

I don't know who said it, but I don't believe it. The people on Lake Nyos never knew - they died.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Nyos