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A hasty judgement is a first step to a recantation.
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“A hasty judgement is a first step to a recantation.”

Publilius Syrus

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Source
The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus
Date
1856 translation
English wording
Darius Lyman — Translator · from Latin
Meaning

Meaning of “A hasty judgement is a first step to…”

Rushing to a conclusion increases the chance that later evidence will force an embarrassing or costly reversal.

Source context

Where does it come from?

The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, maxim 8, in Darius Lyman’s 1856 English rendering; maxim order can vary across editions.

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DecisionDeepLifeLife LessonsMindPatienceShortThinking Quotes About Reasoning, Reflection & JudgmentThought-Provoking Quotes That Invite ReflectionTruthWisdom Quotes About Judgment & Living WellMistakesReason
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It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.
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“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.”

Arthur Conan Doyle · A Scandal in Bohemia · 1891
Meaning & context

Holmes argues that explanations should follow evidence because an early theory can tempt a person to force later facts into a preferred story.

Source details

“A Scandal in Bohemia,” The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1891), Project Gutenberg #1661. Holmes immediately warns that premature theorizing leads people to twist facts to suit theories; it is fictional detective dialogue.

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A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
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“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right.”

Thomas Paine · Common Sense · 1776
Meaning & context

Custom can disguise error by making the familiar feel legitimate; critical judgment requires re-examining practices that have escaped scrutiny through repetition.

Source details

Common Sense (1776), Introduction. The represented opening sentence is verified in Project Gutenberg #147 and the validated scan-backed Wikisource transcription; Paine argues that familiarity can make a wrong practice appear right before public argument unsettles the custom.

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We must know the truth; and we must avoid error.
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“We must know the truth; and we must avoid error.”

William James · The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy · 1897
Meaning & context

James separates two intellectual duties—seeking truth and avoiding falsehood—to show that prioritizing one over the other can produce different habits of belief and inquiry.

Source details

The Will to Believe, essay “The Will to Believe”; Project Gutenberg #26659. James immediately argues that truth-seeking and error-avoidance are distinct laws rather than two phrasings of one command.

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Happy is the man who learns from the misfortunes of others.
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“Happy is the man who learns from the misfortunes of others.”

Aesop · Aesop’s Fables — The Lion, the Fox, and the Ass · Townsend translation
Meaning & context

Other people’s failures can become instruction when we pay attention to consequences before repeating the same mistake ourselves.

Source details

Moral printed after “The Lion, the Fox, and the Ass”; the fox changes his conduct after observing the ass’s fate.

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The thinker has to decide, to choose; and there is always a risk.
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“The thinker has to decide, to choose; and there is always a risk.”

John Dewey · How We Think · 1910
Meaning & context

Choosing among plausible interpretations necessarily involves uncertainty, so sound thinking requires a cautious selection that remains open to confirmation or correction by later events.

Source details

How We Think (1910), Chapter VIII, “Judgment: The Interpretation of Facts,” section 1, printed page 106, Project Gutenberg #37423. Dewey says the thinker must choose among candidate meanings for a perplexing situation and therefore accepts risk; the prudent thinker selects warily and remains answerable to later confirmation or frustration. This is part of Dewey’s historical educational/logical account of reflective judgment, not a modern decision-science finding.

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Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule.
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“Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule.”

Charles Dickens · Great Expectations · 1861
Voice: Fictional character · Mr. Jaggers
Meaning & context

Appearances are weak evidence; better judgment comes from examining what can actually be supported.

Source details

Great Expectations (1861), global Chapter XL / Volume III Chapter I in the Chapman & Hall three-volume first book edition. Mr. Jaggers tells Pip “Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule” while insisting that he has stayed to the strict line of fact about Pip’s benefactor. Verified against the scan-backed Wikisource Volume III Chapter I transcription and cross-checked with Project Gutenberg #1400. This remains fictional legal dialogue and character method rather than a modern legal or scientific standard.

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