"Man is so intelligent that he feels impelled to invent theories to account for what happens in the world. Unfortunately, he is not quite intelligent enough, in most cases, to find correct explanations. So that when he acts on his theories, he behaves very often like a lunatic."
— Aldous Huxley

"The aim of science is not to open the door to infinite wisdom, but to set a limit to infinite error."
— Bertolt Brecht (Life of Galileo)

"Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,
The proper study of mankind is Man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,
He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest;
In doubt to deem himself a God or Beast;
In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little or too much;
Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;
Still by himself abused or disabused;
Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd;
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!"
— Alexander Pope

"Mistakes are a part of being human. Precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from."
— Al Franken

"But slight mistakes accumulate, and grow to gross errors if unchecked."
— Jacqueline Carey (Kushiel's Chosen)

"To err is human, to persist in error is diabolical."
— Georges Canguilhem (Ideology and Rationality in the History of Life Sciences)

"Sometimes a clearly defined error is the only way to discover the truth"
— Benjamin Wiker (The Mystery of the Periodic Table)

"Error, indeed is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced more true than truth itself."
— Irenaeus of Lyons

"Men are apt to prefer a prosperous error before an afflicted truth"
— Jeremy Taylor

"Limiting errors is more important than hitting it big."
— USA Volleyball magazine

"It is impossible not to make mistakes during a war."
— Roma Tearne (Mosquito)