“He was distinguished for ignorance; for he had only one idea, and that was wrong.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister
Source: Sex, Art and American Culture : New Essays (1992), Junk Bonds and Corporate Raiders : Academe in the Hour of the Wolf, p. 224
“He was distinguished for ignorance; for he had only one idea, and that was wrong.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister
John Locke book Some Thoughts Concerning Education
Sec. 94
Source: Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693)
Context: The scene should be gently open'd, and his entrance made step by step, and the dangers pointed out that attend him from several degrees, tempers, designs, and clubs of men. He should be prepared to be shocked by some, and caress'd by others; warned who are like to oppose, who to mislead, who to undermine him, and who to serve him. He should be instructed how to know and distinguish them; where he should let them see, and when dissemble the knowledge of them and their aims and workings.
Edward Teller (1908–2003) Hungarian-American nuclear physicist
As quoted in Forbidden Knowledge : From Prometheus to Pornography (1996) by Roger Shattuck, p. 177
Thiago Silva (1984) Brazilian footballer
Laurent Blanc (PSG), 2013 http://www.leparisien.fr/psg-foot-paris-saint-germain/laurent-blanc-il-n-a-aucune-faille-05-04-2013-2698813.php <br class="br">From coaches and club directors
Bram van Velde (1895–1981) Dutch painter
1970's, Conversations with Samuel Beckett and Bram van Velde (1970 - 1972)
William Kingdon Clifford (1845–1879) English mathematician and philosopher
The Ethics of Belief (1877), The Weight Of Authority
Context: In what cases, then, let us ask in the first place, is the testimony of a man unworthy of belief? He may say that which is untrue either knowingly or unknowingly. In the first case he is lying, and his moral character is to blame; in the second case he is ignorant or mistaken, and it is only his knowledge or his judgment which is in fault. In order that we may have the right to accept his testimony as ground for believing what he says, we must have reasonable grounds for trusting his veracity, that he is really trying to speak the truth so far as he knows it; his knowledge, that he has had opportunities of knowing the truth about this matter; and his judgment, that he has made proper use of those opportunities in coming to the conclusion which he affirms.
However plain and obvious these reasons may be, so that no man of ordinary intelligence, reflecting upon the matter, could fail to arrive at them, it is nevertheless true that a great many persons do habitually disregard them in weighing testimony. Of the two questions, equally important to the trustworthiness of a witness, "Is he dishonest?" and "May he be mistaken?" the majority of mankind are perfectly satisfied if one can, with some show of probability, be answered in the negative. The excellent moral character of a man is alleged as ground for accepting his statements about things which he cannot possibly have known.
Fred Astaire (1899–1987) American dancer, singer, actor, choreographer and television presenter
George Balanchine in Nabokov, Ivan and Carmichael, Elizabeth. "Balanchine, An Interview". Horizon, January 1961, pp. 44-56. (M).
Iolo Goch (1320–1398) Welsh bard
Ni rydd farn eithr ar arnawdd,
Ni châr yn ei gyfar gawdd.
Ni ddeily rhyfel, ni ddilyn,
Ni threisia am ei dda ddyn.
Ni bydd ry gadarn arnam,
Ni yrr hawl gymedrawl gam.
Source: Y Llafurwr (The Labourer), Line 17.
Frederick Buechner (1926) Poet, novelist, short story writer, theologian
Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner (1992)