Churchill, Winston -- Comment (c. 1940s)
In the course of my life I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet. Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and authorComment (c. 1940s)...
View ArticleVerne, Jules -- Journey to the Center of the Earth [Voyage au centre de la...
Science, my lad, has been built upon many errors; but they are errors which is was good to fall into, for they led to the truth. Jules Verne (1828-1905) French novelist, poet, playwright Journey to the...
View ArticleVon Neumann, John -- Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata, Lecture 3...
If you look at automata which have been built by men or which exist in nature you will very frequently notice that their structure is controlled to a much larger extent by the manner in which they...
View ArticleWatts, Isaac -- Poems, “Moral Songs: #6 Good Resolutions”
I’ll not willingly offend, Nor be easily offended; What’s amiss I’ll strive to mend, And endure what can’t be mended. Isaac Watts (1674-1748) English theologian and hymnodistPoems, “Moral Songs: #6...
View ArticleMaugham, W. Somerset -- A Writer’s Notebook (1949)
If forty million people say a foolish thing it does not become a wise one, but the wise man is foolish to give them the lie. W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) English novelist and playwright [William...
View ArticleGalbraith, John Kenneth -- The Guardian (28 Jul 1989)
There is something wonderful in seeing a wrong-headed majority assailed by truth. John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, authorThe Guardian (28 Jul 1989)
View ArticleKing, Stephen -- The Stand (1978)
Another fine quotation from WIST - Wish I'd Said That! . You couldn’t get hold of the things you’d done and turn them right again. Such a power might be given to the gods, but it was not given to women...
View ArticleKeynes, John Maynard -- “Alfred Marshall,” The Economic Journal (Sep 1924)
There is no harm in being sometimes wrong — especially if one is promptly found out. John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) English economist“Alfred Marshall,” The Economic Journal (Sep 1924)
View Article~Other -- Turkish proverb
Another fine quotation from WIST - Wish I'd Said That! . No matter how far you have gone on the wrong road, turn back.
View ArticleTwain, Mark -- (Attributed)
Another fine quotation from WIST - Wish I'd Said That! . It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.
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Johnston, Lynn -- For Better or For Worse (31 May 1994)
An apology is the superglue of life! It can repair just about anything. Lynn Johnston (b. 1947) Canadian cartoonistFor Better or For Worse (31 May 1994) For more discussion, see here.
View ArticleCunningham, Ward -- “Cunningham’s Law”
Another fine quotation from WIST - Wish I'd Said That! . The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question; it’s to post the wrong answer. Cunningham himself denies having...
View ArticleAristotle -- Politics [Πολιτικά], Book 2, ch. 8 / 1269a.9 [tr. Jowett (1885)]
Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered. As in other sciences, so in politics, it is impossible that all things should be precisely set down in writing; for...
View ArticleChesterfield (Lord) -- Letter to his son (21 Sep 1747)
Errors and mistakes, however gross, in matters of opinion, if they are sincere, are to be pitied, but not punished nor laughed at. The blindness of the understanding is as much to be pitied as the...
View ArticleDemocritus -- Frag. 60 (Diels) [tr. Bakewell (1907)]
It is better to correct your own faults than those of another. [Κρέσσον τὰ οἰκήϊα ἐλέγχειν ἁμαρτήματα ἢ τὰ ὀθνεῖα.] Democritus (c. 460 BC - c. 370 BC) Greek philosopher Frag. 60 (Diels) [tr. Bakewell...
View ArticlePopper, Karl -- “Knowledge and the Shaping of Reality,” lecture, Alpbach (Aug...
Since we can never know anything for sure, it is simply not worth searching for certainty; but it is well worth searching for truth; and we do this chiefly by searching for mistakes, so that we have to...
View ArticleBoreham, Frank W. -- The Fiery Crags (1929)
Since we all need reproving and rebuking, and since we all know that we need reproving and rebuking, we ought — if we were logical — to be extremely grateful to those who reprove and rebuke us. And I...
View ArticleSt. Johns, Adela Rogers -- Some Are Born Great (1974)
It is only an error in judgment to make a mistake, but it argues an infirmity of character to stick to it. Adela Rogers St. Johns (1894-1988) American journalist, novelist, screenwriter.Some Are Born...
View ArticleGracián, Baltasar -- The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de...
Do not persist in folly. Some make a duty of failure and having started down the wrong road, think it a badge of character to continue. [No proseguir la necedad. Hacen algunos empeño del desacierto, y...
View ArticleBanneker, Benjamin -- Handwritten note in one of his almanacs
Evil communication corrupts good manners. I hope to live to hear that good communication corrects “bad manners.” Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) American naturalist, surveyor, almanac author,...
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