Judgment Quotes - Page 14

• To engage in war is always to pick a wild card. And war must always be a last resort, not a first choice. I truly must question the judgment of any president who can say that a massive unprovoked military attack on a nation which is over 50 percent children is ‘in the highest moral traditions of our country.'

  Robert Byrd

  Country, Peace, Children

  "The Byrd That Roared" by Matteen Mokalla, www.motherjones.com. March 2004.

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• People should not pass judgment until they have seen the film.

  Christopher Lee

  Inspirational, People, Film

  “Bond fans threaten to boycott Casino Royale” by Jack Foley, www.indielondon.co.uk.

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• The thinking part of mankind do not form their judgment from events; and their equity will ever attach equal glory to those actions which deserve success, and those which have been crowned with it.

  George Washington

  Success, Thinking, Events

  George Washington (1855). “Maxims of Washington: Political, Social, Moral, and Religious”, p.316

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• Alas! if my best Friend, who laid down His life for me, were to remember all the instances in which I have neglected Him, and to plead them against me in judgment, where should I hide my guilty head in the day of recompense? I will pray, therefore, for blessings on my friends, even though they cease to be so, and upon my enemies, though they continue such.

  William Cowper

  Forgiveness, Blessing, Enemy

  William Cowper (1835). “The Works of William Cowper: The life of William Cowper. Letters, 1765-1783”

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• The life of a coquette is one constant lie; and the only rule by which you can form any correct judgment of them is that they are never what they seem.

  Henry Fielding

  Lying, Coquette, Form

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• We should not be too hasty in bestowing either our praise or censure on mankind, since we shall often find such a mixture of good and evil in the same character, that it may require a very accurate judgment and a very elaborate inquiry to determine on which side the balance turns.

  Henry Fielding

  Character, Evil, Balance

  Henry Fielding, Thomas Roscoe (1853). “The Works of Henry Fielding, Complete in One Volume”, p.540

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• There is no learned man but will confess be hath much profited by reading controversies,--his senses awakened, his judgment sharpened, and the truth which he holds firmly established. If then it be profitable for him to read, why should it not at least be tolerable and free for his adversary to write? In logic they teach that contraries laid together, more evidently appear; it follows then, that all controversy being permitted, falsehood will appear more false, and truth the more true; which must needs conduce much to the general confirmation of an implicit truth.

  John Milton

  Reading, Writing, Men

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• A trial cannot be conducted by announcing the general culpability of a civilization. Only the actual deeds which, at least, stank in the nostrils of the entire world were brought to judgment.

  Albert Camus

  Civilization, Deeds, Trials

  Albert Camus (2012). “The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt”, p.181, Vintage

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• I was struck by the absence, even among very young boys and girls, of any interior motivation; they were incapable of thinking, of inventing, of imagining, of choosing, of deciding for themselves; this incapacity was expressed by their conformism; in every domain of life they employed only the abstract measure of money, because they were unable to trust to their own judgment.

  Simone de Beauvoir

  Girl, Money, Motivation

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• As in walking it is your great care not to run your foot upon a nail, or to tread awry, and strain your leg; so let it be in all the affairs of human life, not to hurt your mind or offend your judgment. And this rule, if observed carefully in all your deportment, will be a mighty security to you in your undertakings.

  Epictetus

  Running, Hurt, Feet

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• I wonder whether our adoption of Shrink-ese as a second language, the move from religious phrases of judgment to secular words of acceptance, hasn't also produced a moral lobotomy. In the reluctance, the aversion to being judgmental, are we disabled from making any judgments at all?

  Ellen Goodman

  Religious, Moving, Acceptance

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• In action, the English have the advantage enjoyed by free men always entitled to free discussion: of having a ready judgment on every question. We Germans, on the other hand, are always thinking. We think so much that we never form a judgment.

  Heinrich Heine

  Men, Thinking, Hands

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• No man can be a competent legislator who does not add to an upright intention and a sound judgment a certain degree of knowledge of the subject on which he is to legislate.

  James Madison

  Men, Sound, Degrees

  James Madison, John Jay (1847). “The Federalist, on the New Constitution, Written in the Year 1788”, p.216

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• When we would show any one that he is mistaken, our best course is to observe on what side he considers the subject,--for his view of if is generally right on this side,--and admit to him that he is right so far. He will be satisfied with this acknowledgment, that he was not wrong in his judgment, but only inadvertent in not looking at the whole case.

  Blaise Pascal

  Views, Sides, Argument

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• If a man loves a woman for her beauty, does he love her? No; for the smallpox, which destroys her beauty without killing her, causes his love to cease. And if any one loves me for my judgment or my memory, does he really love me? No; for I can lose these qualities without ceasing to be.

  Blaise Pascal

  Love, Memories, Men

  Blaise Pascal (1849). “Thoughts of Blaise Pascal”, p.127

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• It's a great medium for trivia and hobbies, but not the place for reasoned, reflective judgment. Suprisingly often, discussions degenerate into acrimony, insults and flames.

  Clifford Stoll

  Flames, Hobbies, Acrimony

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• Be not too great a niggard in the commendations of him that professes thy own quality: if he deserve thy praise, thou hast discovered thy judgment; if not, thy modesty: honor either returns or reflects to the giver.

  Francis Quarles

  Honor, Quality, Return

  Francis Quarles (1880). “The Complete Works in Prose and Verse of Francis Quarles”

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• The world is deceitful; her end is doubtful, her conclusion is horrible, her judge terrible, and her judgment is intolerable.

  Francis Quarles

  Judging, World, Deceitful

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• I despair of ever receiving the same degree of pleasure from the most exalted performances of genius which I felt in childhood from pieces which my present judgment regards as trifling and contemptible.

  Edmund Burke

  Childhood, Romance, Despair

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• It is for the most part in our skill in manners, and in the observations of time and place and of decency in general, that what is called taste by way of distinction consists; and which is in reality no other than a more refined judgment.

  Edmund Burke

  Reality, Skills, Way

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• It is known that the taste--whatever it is--is improved exactly as we improve our judgment, by extending our knowledge, by a steady attention to our object, and by frequent exercise.

  Edmund Burke

  Exercise, Attention, Taste

  Edmund Burke (1792). “The works of ... Edmund Burke [ed. by W. King and F. Laurence].”, p.87

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• The cause of a wrong taste is a defect of judgment.

  Edmund Burke

  Taste, Causes, Defects

  Edmund Burke (1824). “A Philosophical Inquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful”, p.19

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• The labor of thinking was so great to me, that having once come to a conclusion upon any subject, I would rather persist in it, right or wrong, than be at the trouble of going over the process again to revise and rectify my judgment.

  Maria Edgeworth

  Thinking, Trouble, Rectify

  Maria Edgeworth, Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1822). “Works”, p.33

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• 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.

  Bertrand Russell

  Believe, Errors, People

  Bertrand Russell, Robert Charles Marsh (1988). “Logic and Knowledge: Essays 1901-1950”, p.149, Psychology Press

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• His kingdom come!" For this we pray in vain,
  Unless He does in our affections reign.
  How fond it were to wish for such a King,
  And no obedience to his sceptre bring,
  Whose yoke is easy, and His burthen light;
  His service freedom, and His judgments right.

  Edmund Waller

  Kings, Light, Wish

  Edmund Waller (1854). “Poetical Works”, p.252

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