Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799) German scientist, satirist
G 30
Aphorisms (1765-1799), Notebook G (1779-1783)
Source: The Analects, Chapter IV
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799) German scientist, satirist
G 30
Aphorisms (1765-1799), Notebook G (1779-1783)
“Prosperity can change man's nature; and seldom is any one cautious enough to resist the effects of good fortune.”
Res secundæ valent commutare naturam, et raro quisquam erga bona sua satis cautus est.
Quintus Curtius Rufus Roman historian
X, 1, 40.
Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedonis Libri Qui Supersunt, Book X
“Err
and err
and err again
but less
and less
and less.”
Piet Hein (1905–1996) Danish puzzle designer, mathematician, author, poet
The Road to Wisdom?
Grooks
Context: The road to wisdom? — Well, it's plain
and simple to express:
Err
and err
and err again
but less
and less
and less.
“It is all very well to be cautious, but if we are too cautious we will miss our opportunity.”
Yoshijirō Umezu (1882–1949) Japanese general
Quoted in "The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire" - Page 754 - by John Toland - History - 2003.
“Experience does not err; only your judgments err by expecting from her what is not in her power.”
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Renaissance polymath
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883), XIX Philosophical Maxims. Morals. Polemics and Speculations.
Context: Experience does not err; only your judgments err by expecting from her what is not in her power. Men wrongly complain of Experience; with great abuse they accuse her of leading them astray but they set Experience aside, turning from it with complaints as to our ignorance causing us to be carried away by vain and foolish desires to promise ourselves, in her name, things that are not in her power; saying that she is fallacious. Men are unjust in complaining of innocent Experience, constantly accusing her of error and of false evidence.
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Renaissance polymath
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883), XIX Philosophical Maxims. Morals. Polemics and Speculations.
“To err is human. To loaf is Parisian.”
Victor Hugo book Les Misérables
Les feuilles d'automne (1831)
Variant: To divinise is human, to humanise is divine.
Source: Les Misérables
“To err is human, to purr is feline.”
Robert Byrne (1928–2013) American chess player and writer
Source: The 2,548 Best Things Anybody Ever Said
“To err is human, to forgive divine.”
Alexander Pope An Essay on Criticism
Source: An Essay on Criticism (1711)