Part 1 : Fundamental Techniques in Handling People, p. 36.
Source: How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936)
Context: Benjamin Franklin, tactless in his youth, became so diplomatic, so adroit at handling people that he was made American Ambassador to France. The secret of his success? "I will speak ill of no man," he said, "... and speak all the good I know of everybody." Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving. "A great man shows his greatness," says Carlyle, "by the way he treats little men."
“Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain — and most fools do.”
Attributed in various post-2000 works, but actually Dale Carnegie in How to Win Friends and Influence People p.14 http://books.google.com/books?id=yxfJDVXClucC&pg=PA14&dq=fool, published in 1936. (N.B. Carnegie is quoting Franklin immediately prior to writing this, so attribution could be due to a printing error in some edition).
Misattributed
“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”
A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (Vox Clamantis in Deserto) (1990)
Source: Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code, 1999, p. 15
Source: Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code, 1999, p. 15
Source: Philosophy and the Return to Self-Knowledge (1997), p. 169
“Any fool can make a rule
And every fool will mind it.”
February 3, 1860
Journals (1838-1859)
Source: http://thoreau.library.ucsb.edu/writings_journals_pdfs/J15f4-f6.pdf#page=289
Source: Journal #14
“Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple.”
“Any simpleton can speak with confidence. Sometimes the greatest fools have the most bravado.”
Source: Keys to the Demon Prison
“Any darn fool can make something complex; it takes a genius to make something simple.”
