WIST Quotations

Adams, Douglas -- Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Phase 1, “Fit the 4th” (BBC Radio) (1979-03-29)

Dave — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 22:49:57 +0000

SLARTIBARTFAST: I’d far rather be happy than right any day.

ARTHUR: And are you?

SLARTIBARTFAST: No, that’s where it all falls down, of course.

ARTHUR: Pity, It sounded like quite a good lifestyle otherwise.

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Phase 1, “Fit the 4th” (BBC Radio) (1979-03-29)
(Source)

This is novelized in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, ch. 30 (1979), with the same dialog.

Martin, Judith -- “Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1999-02-02)

Dave — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 17:25:22 +0000

It is, indeed, a trial to maintain the virtue of humility when one can’t help being right.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1999-02-02)
(Source)

Jerome, Jerome K. -- “Clocks,” Diary of a Pilgrimage, and Six Other Essays (1891)

Dave — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 16:59:34 +0000

There are two kinds of clocks. There is the clock that is always wrong, and that knows it is wrong, and glories in it; and there is the clock that is always right — except when you rely upon it, and then it is more wrong than you would think a clock could be in a civilized country.

Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) English writer, humorist [Jerome Klapka Jerome]
“Clocks,” Diary of a Pilgrimage, and Six Other Essays (1891)
(Source)

Fitzgerald, F. Scott -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 21:23:31 +0000

To be kind is more important than to be right. Many times, what people need is not a brilliant mind that speaks but a special heart that listens.

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) American writer [Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald]
(Attributed)

No actual citation found. Also often attributed (also without citation) to Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 48 (1820)

Dave — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 19:17:04 +0000

Pedantry prides herself on being wrong by rules; while common sense is contented to be right without them.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 48 (1820)
(Source)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], Book 1, ch. 17 (1.17) / sec. 39 (1.39) (45 BC) [tr. @sententiq (2012)]

Dave — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 16:40:30 +0000

AUDITOR: By Hercules, I prefer to be wrong with Plato […] than to be right with those idiots.

[Errare mehercule malo cum Platone […] quam cum istis vera sentire.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], Book 1, ch. 17 (1.17) / sec. 39 (1.39) (45 BC) [tr. @sententiq (2012)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Had rather, I assure you, be mistaken with Plato [...] than to be of their opinion in the right.
[tr. Wase (1643)]

I had rather, so help me Hercules, be mistaken with Plato [...] than be in the right with them.
[tr. Main (1824)]

I would rather err, by Hercules, with Plato [...] than to embrace the truth with those others.
[tr. Otis (1839)]

I had rather, so help me Hercules! be mistaken with Plato [...] than be in the right with those others.
[tr. Yonge (1853)]

I would rather, by Hercules, err with Plato [...] than hold the truth with those other philosophers.
[tr. Peabody (1886)]

I would rather, so help me Hercules! be wrong with Plato [...] than be right with all the rest of them.
[tr. Black (1889)]

In very truth I would rather be wrong with Plato than right with such men as these.
[ed. Harbottle (1897)]

By Hercules, I prefer to err with Plato [...] than to be right in the company of such men.
[ed. Taylor/Hunt (1916)]

I assure you that I would rather go wrong with Plato [...] than share correct views with those who disagree with him.
[tr. Douglas (1985)]

Good lord! I'd rather go wrong with Plato than be right with the others.
[tr. Habinek (1996)]

Believe me, I'd rather go wrong in the company of Plato [...] than hold the right views with his opponents.
[tr. Davie (2017)]

McFee, William -- Casuals of the Sea, Book 2, ch 6 (1916)

Dave — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 15:09:16 +0000

People don’t ever seem to realize that doing what’s right’s no guarantee against misfortune.

William McFee (1881-1966) English writer
Casuals of the Sea, Book 2, ch 6 (1916)
(Source)

Sometimes paraphrased "Doing what's right is no guarantee against misfortune."

Oliver, Mary -- “Three Things to Remember”

Dave — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 04:28:26 +0000

As long as you’re dancing, you can break the rules.
Sometimes breaking the rules is just extending the rules.

Sometimes there are no rules.

Mary Oliver (1935-2019) American poet
“Three Things to Remember”
(Source)

De Botton, Alain -- The Consolations of Philosophy, ch. 1 “Consolation for Unpopularity” (2000)

Dave — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 02:23:29 +0000

The validity of an idea or action is determined not by whether it is widely believed or widely reviled but by whether it obeys the rules of logic. It is not because an argument is denounced by a majority that it is wrong nor, for those drawn to heroic defiance, that it is right.

Alain de Botton (b. 1969) Swiss-British author
The Consolations of Philosophy, ch. 1 “Consolation for Unpopularity” (2000)

Goethe, Johann von -- Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Mann (1948)]

Dave — Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:42:01 +0000

A correct answer is like an affectionate kiss.

[Eine richtige Antwort ist wie ein lieblicher Kuß.]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Mann (1948)]
(Source)

See Proverbs 24:26.

(Source (German)). Alternate translation:

A right answer is like a loving kiss.
[tr. Stopp (1995), "Posthumous," "On Literature and Life," #888]

Eliot, T. S. -- Murder in the Cathedral, Act 1 [Thomas] (1935)

Dave — Mon, 15 May 2017 15:04:46 +0000

The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
Murder in the Cathedral, Act 1 [Thomas] (1935)
(Source)

Johnson, Lyndon -- Comment (1968-02) to Sam Houston Johnson

Dave — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 15:02:29 +0000

That’s just the trouble, Sam Houston — it’s always my move. And damnit, I sometimes can’t tell whether I’m making the right move or not. Now take this Vietnam mess. How in the hell can anyone know for sure what’s right and what’s wrong, Sam? I got some of the finest brains in this country — people like Dean Rusk, Walt Rostow, and Dean Acheson — making some strong and convincing arguments for us to stay in there and not pull out. Then I’ve got some people like George Ball and Fulbright — also intelligent men whose motives I can’t rightly distrust — who keep telling me we’ve got to de-escalate or run the risk of a total war. And, Sam, I’ve got to listen to both sides. […] I’ve just got to choose between my opposing experts. No way of avoiding it. But I sure as hell wish I could really know what’s right.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Comment (1968-02) to Sam Houston Johnson
(Source)

Recalled in Sam Houston Johnson, My Brother Lyndon, ch. 1 (1969).

Twain, Mark -- Mark Twain’s Notebook, 1902 [ed. Paine (1935)]

Dave — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 20:26:26 +0000

Everybody’s private motto: It’s better to be popular than right.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Mark Twain’s Notebook, 1902 [ed. Paine (1935)]

Comment on an unlined sheet his papers.

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Lecture (1881-05-01) “The Great Infidels,” Booth’s Theater, New York

Dave — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:28:21 +0000

All the martyrs in the history of the world are not sufficient to establish the correctness of an opinion. Martyrdom, as a rule, establishes the sincerity of the martyr, — never the correctness of his thought. Things are true or false in themselves. Truth cannot be affected by opinions; it cannot be changed, established, or affected by martyrdom. An error cannot be believed sincerely enough to make it a truth.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1881-05-01) “The Great Infidels,” Booth’s Theater, New York
(Source)

See also Colton (1820), Schnitzler (1927).

Schnitzler, Arthur -- Book of Thoughts and Sayings [Buch der Sprüche und Bedenken], “Hunches and Questions” No. 2 (1927)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Martyrdom has always been a proof of the intensity, never of the correctness, of a belief.

[Das Martyrium war immer nur ein Beweis für die Intensität, niemals für die Richtigkeit eines Glaubens.]

Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931) Austrian physician, playwright, novelist
Book of Thoughts and Sayings [Buch der Sprüche und Bedenken], “Hunches and Questions” No. 2 (1927)
(Source)

(Source (German)). See Ingersoll (1881). This translation is common, but unattributed. Other translation:

Martyrdom was only ever a proof of the intensity, never of the correctness of a belief.
[E.g.]

Ericsson, Graham -- Journal (undated)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Just because the other person is obviously, blindingly wrong, doesn’t mean we can be sloppy in our arguments against him. All we do in that case is strengthen his position and weaken our own.

Graham Ericsson (b. 1961) American technologist, writer, aphorist
Journal (undated)