Mistaken Quotes - Page 23

• The terrorists believe that free societies are essentially corrupt and decadent and, with a few hard blows, they can force us to retreat. They are mistaken.

  George W. Bush

  Believe, Blow, Retreat

  George W. Bush's address to the Nation in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. June 28, 2005.

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• In [chess], where the pieces have different and "bizarre" motions, with various and variable values, what is only complex, is mistaken (a not unusual error) for what is profound

  Edgar Allan Poe

  Errors, Profound, Pieces

  Edgar Allan Poe (2008). “Edgar Allan Poe Annotated and Illustrated Entire Stories and Poems”, p.352, Bottletree Books LLC

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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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• many lesbians were so far in the closet they were in danger of being mistaken for garment bags.

  Rita Mae Brown

  Bags, Sexuality, Danger

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• In the West, you have always associated the Islamic faith 100 percent with Arab culture. This in itself is a fundamentalist attitude and it is mistaken.

  Youssou N'Dour

  Attitude, Islamic, Culture

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• There is a strong tendency in the United States to rally round the flag and their troops, no matter how mistaken the war.

  George McGovern

  Strong, War, United States

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• I think I've kind of been mistaken for somebody who's trying to be a spokesperson for animal rights, and the fact is I'm not qualified to be a spokesperson. I am passionate about it, but I'm not trying to make other people do what I do.

  Neko Case

  Animal, Thinking, Rights

  "The banned played on". Interview With Leonie Cooper, www.theguardian.com. March 12, 2009.

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• I have undertaken to translate the Bible into German. This was good for me; otherwise I might have died in the mistaken notion that I was a learned fellow.

  Martin Luther

  Might, Notion, Translate

  Martin Luther (1959). “What Luther says: an anthology”, Concordia

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• If I have learned one thing in life, it is never to take any man's own estimate of himself. He could very well be mistaken.

  Johann Lamont

  Men, Things In Life, I Have Learned

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• But it would be absolutely mistaken to regard a wealth of theoretical knowledge as characteristic proof for the qualities and abilities of a leader.

  Adolf Hitler

  Education, Science, Leader

  Adolf Hitler (1971). “Mein Kampf”, Mariner Books

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• It's very good for an idea to be commonplace. The important thing is that a new idea should develop out of what is already there so that it soon becomes an old acquaintance. Old acquaintances aren't by any means always welcome, but at least one can't be mistaken as to who or what they are.

  Penelope Fitzgerald

  Mean, Ideas, Important

  Penelope Fitzgerald (1998). “The Gate of Angels”, p.202, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• I never know what I'm going to write next, and when I think I do I usually turn out to be mistaken.

  Lawrence Block

  Writing, Thinking, Next

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• The question of "unreality"is a very important one. Misled by grammar, the great majority of those logicians who have dealt with this question have dealt with it on mistaken lines. They have regarded grammatical form as a surer guide in analysis than, in fact, it is. And they have not known what differences in grammatical form are important.

  Bertrand Russell

  Reality, Differences, Important

  Bertrand Russell (1993). “Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy”, p.168, Courier Corporation

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• When entering on new ground we must not be afraid to express even risky ideas so as to stimulate research in all directions. As Priestley put it, we must not remain inactive through false modesty based on fear of being mistaken.

  Claude Bernard

  Science, Ideas, Entering

  Claude Bernard (2012). “An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine”, p.185, Courier Corporation

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• Anyone who believes that the eternal question of war and peace in Europe is no longer there risks being deeply mistaken.

  Jean-Claude Juncker

  War, Believe, Europe

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• Those trying to explain pictures are as a rule completely mistaken.

  Pablo Picasso

  Art, Trying

  Pablo Picasso (1972). “Picasso on art: a selection of views”, Viking Adult

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• I speak French with timidity, and not flowingly--except when excited. When using that language I have often noticed that I have hardly ever been mistaken for a Frenchman, except, perhaps, by horses; never, I believe, by people.

  Mark Twain

  Horse, Believe, Speaks French

  Mark Twain (1992). “Twain: Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches, and Essays, Volume 1: 1852-1890”, p.1020, Library of America

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• Now if you should hear any one say that Lincoln don't [sic] want to go to Congress, I wish you as a personal friend of mine, wouldtell him that you have reason to believe he is mistaken.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Believe, Wish, Politics

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• But that's not the name of a man, it's the name of a mountain! (...) "It is my name," Athos said calmly. "But you said your name was d'Artagnan." "I?" "Yes, you." "That is to say, someone said to me: 'You are M. d'Artagnan?' I replied: 'You think so?' My guards shouted that they were sure of it. I did not want to vex them. Besides, I might have been mistaken.

  Alexandre Dumas

  Men, Thinking, Names

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• You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me in any other way, than as it spared the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner.

  Jane Austen

  Love, Pride, Mrs Bennet

  "Pride and Prejudice". Book by Jane Austin (Chapter 34), January 28, 1813.

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• When I was at school my jography told me th' earth was shaped like a orange an' I found out before I was ten that th' whole orange doesn't belong to nobody. No one owns more than his bit of a quarter an' there's times it seems there's not enow quarters to go around. But don't you-none o' you- think as you own th' whole orange or you'll find out you're mistaken, an' you won't find it without hard knocks. What children learns from children, is that there's no sense grabbin' at th' whole orange-peel an' all. If you do you'll likely not get even th' pips, an' them's too bitter to eat.

  Frances Hodgson Burnett

  Children, School, Thinking

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• I let out a battle cry. Sure, a lot of people might have mistaken it for a sudden yelp of unmanly fear, but trust me. It was a battle cry.

  Jim Butcher

  People, Battle, Might

  Jim Butcher (2010). “Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files”, p.38, Penguin

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• When you find out who you are, you will no longer be innocent. That will be sad for others to see. All that knowledge will show on your face and change it. But sad only for others, not for yourself. You will feel you have a kind of wisdom, very mistaken, but a mistake of some power to you and so you will sadly treasure it and grow it.

  Lorrie Moore

  Mistake, Treasure, Faces

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• But to measure cause and effect... you must ensure that a simple correlation, however tempting it may be, is not mistaken for a cause. In the 1990s the stork population of Germany increased and the German at-home birth rate rose as well. Shall we credit storks for airlifting the babies?

  Neil deGrasse Tyson

  Baby, Home, Simple

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• Candor toward a brother must not be mistaken for confession. The latter is made to the Lord of heaven and earth in the presence of a man is authorized to hear it.

  Brother Roger

  Brother, Men, Heaven

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