Bret Stephens Quotes

No one is so wrong as the man who knows all the answers.

It is a tragedy of the world that no one knows what he doesn't know - the less a man knows, the more sure it is that he knows everything.

The less one knows, the more he thinks he knows, and the more willing he is to employ any and all measures to enforce his views upon others.

Folly always knows the answer.

I was the network president. I thought I knew everything.

The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.

I know everything that's out there that's worth knowing about.

None are so fallible as those who are sure they're right.

Incompetence is certainty in the absence of expertise. Overconfidence is certainty in the presence of expertise.

You may have noticed that the less I know about a subject the more confidence I have, and the more new light I throw on it.

We have been cocksure of many things that were not so.

Even the good artisans fell into the same error as the poets; because they were good workmen they thought that they also knew all sorts of high matters, and this defect in them overshadowed their wisdom.

I don't always know what I'm talking about, but I know I'm right.

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.

Ask the young. They know everything.

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.

From a worldly point of view, there is no mistake so great as that of being always right.

Smatterers in learning are the most opinionated.

Science is his forte, and omniscience his foible.

When we believe ourselves in possession of the only truth, we are likely to be indifferent to common everyday truths.

The man who has everything figured out is probably a fool.

True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not; he knoweth all things but his own ignorance.

The world is made up for the most part of morons and natural tyrants, sure of themselves, strong in their own opinions, never doubting anything.

I think the reason I am important is that I know everything.

The belief that there is only one truth, and that oneself is in possession of it, is the root of all evil in the world.