“From error to error, one discovers the entire truth.”
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian neurologist known as the founding father of psychoanalysis
Es ist so gewiß als wunderbar, daß Wahrheit und Irrthum aus Einer Quelle entstehen; deßwegen man oft dem Irrthum nicht schaden darf, weil man zugleich der Wahrheit schadet.
Maxims and Reflections (1833)
“From error to error, one discovers the entire truth.”
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian neurologist known as the founding father of psychoanalysis
“It is no easy task to pick one's way from truth to truth through besetting errors.”
Peter Mere Latham (1789–1875) English physician and educator
Book II, p. 415.
Collected Works
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German writer, artist, and politician
Der Irrthum verhält sich gegen das Wahre wie der Schlaf gegen das Wachen. Ich habe bemerkt, daß man aus dem Irren sich wie erquickt wieder zu dem Wahren hinwende.
Maxim 331, trans. Stopp
Maxims and Reflections (1833)
Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657–1757) French writer, satirist and philosopher of enlightenment
p, 125
The History of Oracles, and the Cheats of the Pagan Priests (1688)
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) Austrian-British philosopher
Source: 1930s-1951, Philosophical Occasions 1912-1951 (1993), Ch. 7 : Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough, p. 119
Carl Eckart (1902–1973) American physicist
Source: Our Modern Idol: Mathematical Science (1984), p. 3.
René Daumal (1908–1944) French poet and writer
Vol. 2, Essais et Notes
The Lie of the Truth (1938)
“An unsanctified temper is a fruitful source of error, and a mighty impediment to truth.”
Elias Lyman Magoon (1810–1886) American minister
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 13.