“The Golden Gate wasn't our fault either, but we still put a bridge across it.”
Larry Wall (1954) American computer programmer and author, creator of Perl
[199811242253.OAA28167@wall.org, 1998]
Usenet postings, 1998
This has appeared as a variant of Sun Tzu's assertion to "leave a way of escape." Tu Mu, commenting on Sun Tzu, advises, "Show him there is a road to safety..." Ch. 7; it has also recently appeared on the internet attributed to Scipio Africanus, but without citation.
Disputed
“The Golden Gate wasn't our fault either, but we still put a bridge across it.”
Larry Wall (1954) American computer programmer and author, creator of Perl
[199811242253.OAA28167@wall.org, 1998]
Usenet postings, 1998
William the Silent (1533–1584) stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht, leader of the Dutch Revolt
Statement to his friend, the Count of Egmont, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison p. 76
“Words build bridges into unexplored regions.”
Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party
“Men build too many walls and not enough bridges.”
Isaac Newton (1643–1727) British physicist and mathematician and founder of modern classical physics
Les hommes construisent trop de murs et pas assez de ponts. <br class="br">This became widely attributed to Isaac Newton after Dominique Pire ascribed it to "the words of Newton" in his Nobel Lecture, 11 December 1958. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1958/pire-lecture.html Pire refers not to Isaac, but to Joseph Fort Newton, who is widely reported to have said "People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges." This appears to be paraphrased from a longer passage found in his essays and addresses, The One Great Church: Adventures of Faith (1948), pp. 51–52: "Why are so many people shy, lonely, shut up within themselves, unequal to their tasks, unable to be happy? Because they are inhabited by fear, like the man in the Parable of the Talents, erecting walls around themselves instead of building bridges into the lives of others; shutting out life." <br class="br">Misattributed
“Cry me a river, build a bridge, and get over it.”
Justin Timberlake (1981) American singer and actor
Michael Savage (1942) U.S. radio talk show host, Commentator, and Author
The Savage Nation (1995- ), 2016