“Before pointing the finger to point out the rottenness and disgrace of others, it is better for us to look first in the mirror to see our own face.”

—  Titon Rahmawan

Last update Nov. 30, 2023. History

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Françoise Sagan photo

“It is healthier to see the good points of others than to analyze our own bad ones.”

Françoise Sagan book A Certain Smile

Un certain sourire (1955, A Certain Smile, translated 1956)

Cormac McCarthy photo

“I cant back up and start over. But I dont see the point in slobberin over it. And I cant see where it would make me feel better to be able to point a finger at somebody else.”

Cormac McCarthy book All the Pretty Horses

All the Pretty Horses (1992)

John Lancaster Spalding photo

“The world is a mirror into which we look, and see our own image.”

John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) Catholic bishop

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 31

Ray Comfort photo

“It amazes me that anyone would dare point to Jesus Christ in moral judgement. You had better have clean hands and a pure heart before you point a finger at the Son of God… Jesus never sinned once, in thought, word, or in deed. He never lied, stole, hated, lusted, coveted, murdered, or dishonoured his parents. Let's now turn the mirror back on you. When was the last time you burned with unlawfully sexual fantasies? You don't need to reply to that. God knows the answer… So take a little advice from a fellow sinner - stop pointing your sin-stained finger at perfection, and instead look at your own self-righteous and duplicitous heart, before it's too late.”

Ray Comfort (1949) New Zealand-born Christian minister and evangelist

You Can Lead an Atheist to Evidence, But You Can't Make Him Think (2009)

Thomas Fuller (writer) photo

“3890. Point not at other's Spots with a foul Finger.”

Thomas Fuller (writer) (1654–1734) British physician, preacher, and intellectual

Compare Poor Richard's Almanack (1750) : Clean your Finger, before you point at my Spots.
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)

“Don't bite my finger, look where I am pointing.”

Warren S. McCulloch (1898–1969) American neuroscientist

Attributed to McCulloch in: Seymour Papert (1965) Introduction to McCulloch. p. xxviii

“And so, pointing fingers become pointing guns, because nobody listens to fingers.”

Jeff Shaara Gods and Generals

Source: Gods and Generals

Rajneesh photo

“If you really want to know who I am, you have to be as absolutely empty as I am. Then two mirrors will be facing each other, and only emptiness will be mirrored. Infinite emptiness will be mirrored: two mirrors facing each other. But if you have some idea, then you will see your own idea in me.”

Rajneesh (1931–1990) Godman and leader of the Rajneesh movement

Come Follow To You, Vol. 2, Chapter 4; in Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic (2000), Part 2.

Terry Pratchett photo

“I see evil when I look in my shaving mirror. It is, philosophically, present everywhere in the universe in order, apparently, to highlight the existence of good. I think there is more to this theory, but I tend to burst out laughing at this point.”

Terry Pratchett book Unseen Academicals

Source: Unseen Academicals

“I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked awful, but I always look awful in the mirror. I keep myself going with the firm belief that my real face is much better looking.”

George Alec Effinger book When Gravity Fails

Source: When Gravity Fails (1986), Chapter 2 (p. 13).

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