"Errors, to be dangerous, must have a great deal of truth mingled with them. It is only from this alliance that they can ever obtain an extensive circulation"
- Sydney Smith
About this Quote
This quote by Sydney Smith is a warning about the power of misinformation. He is saying that for an error to be harmful, it needs to consist of some truth. This is because if a mistake is entirely false, it will not be believed by many people and will not have a substantial blood circulation. However, if an error contains some truth, it will be most likely to be accepted and spread. This is why it is important to be careful about what our company believe and to make sure that we are getting our info from trusted sources. Smith's quote is a tip that even small errors can have a large effect if they are thought and spread.
"To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization"
"Having soon discovered to be great, I must appear so, and therefore studiously avoided mixing in society, and wrapped myself in mystery, devoting my time to fasting and prayer"