“The number of people who believe something does not influence whether it is true. Whether something would be ‘good,’ ‘fair,’ or beneficial to me or humanity in general does not influence whether it is true. Whether something is written down does not affect whether it is true. How long a belief has been held does not affect whether it is true – ancient civilizations were wrong about far more subjects than they were right about. Whether something makes a good story, or is commonly reported on the Internet as fact does not influence whether it is true. Testing something (and continuing to test it when alternative hypothesis arrive) determines its truth. Untestable statements are just beliefs – holding them dear and refusing to part with them is the surest sign of a fanatic. Calling such beliefs ‘truth,’ especially on a car fish magnet, is the surest sign of an idiot.”
Two, tied for first.
“Never try to teach a pig to sing. You’ll only waste your time and annoy the pig.”
and
“You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it.”
Possibly contradictory, but still my two.
When I was nine years old, I discovered James Thurber. From time to time in the fifty years since then, I have often reminded myself of a quote from Thurber’s fable The Bear Who Let It Alone:
“You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward.”
I actually gave this some thought overnight, and although I have lots of quotations that I trot out at a moment’s notice (such as Thomas Jefferson’s “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just”), I am a true child of the television generation… the closest I have to a motto is a quote from the television show Angel. I strive for it but in no way live up to it, which is sort of the point of a motto, right?
**If there is no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do. … Because if there is no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in the world. **
