Too many cooks may spoil the broth, but it only takes one to burn it.
Julia Child (1912-2004) American chef and writer
(Attributed)
Referring to the Women's Suffrage Movement, as quoted by Madeleine Bingham, Something's Burning: The Bad Cook's Guide (1968) [unverified]. Sometimes said to be in the Introduction to her Julia Child's Kitchen, (1975), but not found there.
Quotations about:
neglect
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
A certain combination of incompetence and indifference can cause almost as much suffering as the most acute malevolence.
Bruce Catton (1899-1978) American historian and journalist
A Stillness at Appomattox (1953)
(Source)
Regarding prison camps during the US Civil War.
LONDO: Big concerns grow from small concerns. You plant them, water them with tears, fertilize them with unconcern. If you ignore them, they grow.
J. Michael (Joe) Straczynski (b. 1954) American screenwriter, producer, author [a/k/a "JMS"]
Babylon 5, 3×20 “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place” (14 Oct 1996)
I don’t think.
I don’t know.
I don’t care.
I am too busy.
I leave well enough alone.
I have no time to read and find out.
I am not interested.William J. H. Boetcker (1873-1962) German-American religious leader, author, public speaker [William John Henry Boetcker]
“Seven National Crimes”
There are few mortals so insensible that their affections cannot be gained by mildness; their confidence by sincerity; their hatred by scorn or neglect.
Johann Georg Zimmermann (1728-1795) Swiss philosophical writer, naturalist, physician
Aphorisms and Reflections on Men, Morals and Things (1800)
(Source)
We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest;
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those who love us best.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
“Life’s Scars” (1896)
(Source)
Originally published in Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, Vol. 42, #4 (Oct 1896)
Carelessness does more harm than a want of knowledge.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
(Attributed)
I never complained that my birthday was overlooked; people were even surprised, with a touch of admiration, by my discretion on this subject. But the reason for my disinterestedness was even more discrete: I longed to be forgotten in order to be able to complain to myself.
Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright
The Fall (1956)
Looky here, America
What you done done —
Let things drift
Until the riots come.
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright
“Beaumont to Detroit: 1943”
(Source)
It is a mistake always to contemplate the good and ignore the evil, because by making people neglectful it lets in disaster. There is a dangerous optimism of ignorance and indifference.
To ignore evil is to become an accomplice to it.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)
Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
(Source)
Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business, is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
“An Apology for Idlers” (1881)
(Source)
And I have again observed, my dear friend, in this trifling affair, that misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief in the world than even malice and wickedness. At all events, the two latter are of less frequent occurrence.
[Und ich habe, mein Lieber, wieder bei diesem kleinen Geschäft gefunden, dass Missverständnisse und Trägheit vielleicht mehr Irrungen in der Welt machen als List und Bosheit. Wenigstens sind die beiden letzteren gewiss seltener.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Die Leiden des jungen Werthers [The Sorrows of Young Werther], “Letter from May 4th” (1774)
Alt. trans.: "Misunderstandings and neglect create more confusion in this world than trickery and malice. At any rate, the last two are certainly much less frequent."
Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin
As self-neglecting.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry V, Act 2, sc. 4, l. 80ff [Dauphin] (1599)
(Source)
