“A fool that knows he is a fool is one that knows he don’t know all about anything, but the fool that don’t know he is a fool is the one that thinks he knows all about anything.” — Will Rogers, “Will Rogers Comments on Fools and the Sacco Case,” Daily Telegram #325 (1927-08-07)
“Experts who acknowledge the full extent of their ignorance may expect to be replaced by more confident competitors, who are better able to gain the trust of clients.” — Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow
“One day, I’d like to visit my father’s birthplace, see the grave of my grandfather.”
“You’re obsessed with your roots.”
“No. If I was obsessed I would have gone a long time ago.”
“You’re in denial.”
I stop answering. She has a theory about me and she will reinterpret proofs that contradict it. Make a round hole large enough and the square peg will fit.
“I could be a psychologist.”
I swallow the laugh and check my face to make sure I am not smiling.
“I have been studying. I am really good at it.”
Right! One book, a handful of articles and a lot of gossip. I want to tell her she could easily get a Dunning-Kruger certificate in psychology. I imagine her agreeing, feeling validated.
Thirty seconds of silence.
She starts to tell me about a conversation with a friend about another friend’s husband. He apparently has a problem with successful women.
“We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand.” — Eric Hoffer, The True Believer
“Only fools think they’re wise; the rest of us just muddle through as we can.” — Charles de Lint, Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night
“The semiliterate on the next bar stool will tell you with absolute, arrogant assurance just how to solve the world’s problems; while the scholar who has spent a lifetime studying their causes is not at all sure how to do this.” — Edwin Thompson Jaynes, Probability Theory
“He that is not aware of his ignorance, will be only misled by his knowledge.” — Richard Whately, Thoughts and Apophthegms from the Writings of Archbishop Whately
“The more a man knows, the more he will find he has to know.” — Samuel Richardson, The History of Sir Charles Grandison
“When you’re through sizing up the other fellow, it’s a good thing to step back from yourself and see how you look. Then add fifty per cent to your estimate of your neighbor for virtues that you can’t see, and deduct fifty per cent from yourself for faults that you’ve missed in your inventory, and you’ll have a pretty accurate result.” — George Horace Lorimer, Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son
“Chances are you feel superior to almost everyone you work with — however, they probably feel the same way about you.” — Douglas Coupland, JPod
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