Oliver Cromwell quote: “I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken.”

“I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken.”

Learned Hand (1872–1961) American legal scholar, Court of Appeals judge

I should like to have that written over the portals of every church, every school, and every courthouse, and, may I say, of every legislative body in the United States. I should like to have every court begin, "I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that we may be mistaken."

Morals in Public Life (1951); Hand is here paraphrasing a famous expression of Oliver Cromwell from his letter of 3 August 1650 to the general assembly of the Church of Scotland. Expanded upon in Establishment of a Commission on Ethics in Government, testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. Special Subcommittee on the Establishment of a Commission on Ethics in Government (1951), p. 218: I will give you an instance of what I mean, something he said that has always hung in my mind. It was just before the battle of Dunbar, where he beat the Scots, and that, as always, needed a very tough fight. (A marine whose name is Douglas will agree to that.) He wrote the Kirk before the fight, trying to get them to come to some reasonable composition: "I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken." I should like to have that written over the portal of every church, every school and every courthouse. May I say I should even add over the portal of every legislative room in the United States? I should like every court to begin: "I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken."
Extra-judicial writings

“"I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken." I should like to have that written over the portals of every church, every school, and every courthouse, and, may I say, of every legislative body in the United States. I should like to have every court begin, "I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that we may be mistaken."”

Learned Hand (1872–1961) American legal scholar, Court of Appeals judge

Morals in Public Life (1951); Hand is here paraphrasing a famous expression of Oliver Cromwell from his letter of 3 August 1650 to the general assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Extra-judicial writings

“If you think, as a Western person, that you are not affected by religious traditions, you are sadly mistaken.”

Robert B. Laughlin (1950) American physicist

22:30 in video
SETI Talk 2013

“As Oliver Cromwell said to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you might be mistaken." Life and the affairs of the living are so tangled, the world not only stranger than we imagine but stranger than we can imagine, that all questions are conundrums, no answers "correct." Is it certain that parallel lines never meet? No. Does water freeze at 32 degrees Fahrenheit? Only probably. Shall I marry? Who can say? And yet the world's work must be done. One Oblomov is enough. Thus we learn a conventional certitude, acting as though all were light by blinking the shadow. A simple proof demonstrates that parallel lines do meet, but, on the assumption that they do not, the architect builds the skyscraper. Despite his knowledge of statistical mechanics, the engineer designs the refrigerator to maintain a constant temperature of 31 degrees. Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait pas [the heart has its reasons that reason does not know], and families are raised.”

Irving Younger (1932–1988) American lawyer

Some of My Life

“Ireland stands at your bar expectant, hopeful, almost suppliant. Her words are the words of truth and soberness. She asks a blessed oblivion of the past, and in that oblivion our interest is deeper than even hers. …She asks also a boon for the future; and that boon for the future, unless we are much mistaken, will be a boon to us in respect of honour, no less than a boon to her in respect of happiness, prosperity, and peace. Such, Sir, is her prayer. Think, I beseech you, think well, think wisely, think, not for the moment, but for the years that are to come, before you reject this Bill.”

William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898) British Liberal politician and prime minister of the United Kingdom

Speech https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1886/jun/07/second-reading-adjourned-debate in the House of Commons (7 June 1886) introducing the Home Rule Bill
1880s