1870s, Eighth State of the Union Address (1876)
Context: It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training. From the age of 17 I had never even witnessed the excitement attending a Presidential campaign but twice antecedent to my own candidacy, and at but one of them was I eligible as a voter.
Under such circumstances it is but reasonable to suppose that errors of judgment must have occurred. Even had they not, differences of opinion between the Executive, bound by an oath to the strict performance of his duties, and writers and debaters must have arisen. It is not necessarily evidence of blunder on the part of the Executive because there are these differences of views. Mistakes have been made, as all can see and I admit...
“Failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent.”
This has sometimes been paraphrased: "My failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent".
1870s, Eighth State of the Union Address (1876)
Context: I leave comparisons to history, claiming only that I have acted in every instance from a conscientious desire to do what was right, constitutional, within the law, and for the very best interests of the whole people. Failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent.
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Ulysses S. Grant 177
18th President of the United States 1822–1885Related quotes
“Intent is guilt. Failure to successfully carry out the intent does not absolve the guilt.”
Source: Temple of the Winds
“A hallucination is a fact, not an error; what is erroneous is a judgment based upon it.”
On the Nature of Acquaintance: Neutral Monism (1914)
1910s
Context: People are said to believe in God, or to disbelieve in Adam and Eve. But in such cases what is believed or disbelieved is that there is an entity answering a certain description. This, which can be believed or disbelieved is quite different from the actual entity (if any) which does answer the description. Thus the matter of belief is, in all cases, different in kind from the matter of sensation or presentation, and error is in no way analogous to hallucination. A hallucination is a fact, not an error; what is erroneous is a judgment based upon it.
Variant: Such a simple concept, yet so true: that which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves.
Source: The Art of Racing in the Rain
“You mark and celebrate errors, transforming failures into successes.”
“Game III,” p. 98
The Sun Watches the Sun (1999), Sequence: “A Game”
as taken by Professor Ralph Peck's Legacy Website http://peck.geoengineer.org/words.html#
Case of John Lambert and others (1793), 22 How. St. Tr. 1018.
“There have been errors in the administration of the most enlightened men.”
Rex v. Lambert and Perry (1810), 2 Camp. 405.