Mary Wollstonecraft Quotes

Caution is the path to mediocrity.

If we insist on being as sure as is conceivable... we must be content to creep along the ground, and never soar.

Men of age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and seldom drive business home to the full period, but content themselves with a mediocrity of success.

Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about reform.

One of the things Goldman teaches you is, don't be the first guy through the door because you're going to get all the arrows.

I'm not a big risk-taker - being bad just wasn't worth my time or the risk of having the consequences for it. So maybe I'm a little bit lame for that.

There has been an obvious effort to play it safe, to make 'Bonanza' a good family show that would offend no one and hit a consistent level of mediocrity.

I've never put all my eggs in one basket, and I've always been cautious.

You're unwilling to go out on a limb because it just might break underneath you.

Thin-lipped wisdom spoke at her from the worn chair, hinted at prudence, quoted from that book of cowardice whose author apes the name of common sense.

Careful poetry and careful people live only long enough to die safely.

He is no wise man who will quit a certainty for an uncertainty.

It is not always wise to appear singular.

Old golfers don't win (it's not an absolute, it's a general rule). Why? The older golfer can hit the ball as far as the young one. He chips and putts equally well. And will probably have a better knowledge of the course. So why does he take the extra stroke that denies him victory? Experience. He knows the downside, what happens if it goes wrong, which makes him more cautious. The young player is either ignorant or reckless to caution. That is his edge. It is the same with all of us. Knowledge makes us play safe. The secret is to stay childish.

As there are some faults that have been termed faults on the right side, so there are some errors that might be denominated errors on the safe side. Thus we seldom regret having been too mild, too cautious, or too humble; but we often repent having been too violent, too precipitate, or too proud.

To reveal imprudently the spot where we are most sensitive and vulnerable is to invite a blow. The demigod Achilles admitted no one to his confidence.

You reach a certain point in your 30s when you say things in a much safer way.

Young men's minds are always changeable, but when an old man is concerned in a matter, he looks both before and after.

I simply asked if I could have a go at adapting a screenplay. But I did not want any money, in case I failed because I did not want a script out there with my name on it that might be completely dysfunctional.

Nothing wrong with cowardice as long as it comes with prudence. But when a coward stops remembering who he is... God help him.

Be circumspect in your dealings, and let the seed you plant be the offspring of prudence and care; thus fruit follows the fair blossom, as honor follows a good life.

If you have any question in your mind, don't do it. If you go in thinking it's going to fix something that's wrong, don't do it.

The Englishman is too apt to neglect the present good in preparing against the possible evil.

There are many more shining qualities in the mind of man, but there is none so useful as discretion.

Playing things too safe is the most popular way to fail.