People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.
—Iris Murdoch (1919–99) British Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
No accurate thinker will judge another person by that which the other person’s enemies say about him.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
Speak of me as I am. Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
But men never violate the laws of God without suffering the consequences, sooner or later.
—Lydia Maria Child (1802–80) American Abolitionist, Writer
Judgment is forced upon us by experience.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us in the duties of life; cunning is a kind of instinct, that only looks out after our immediate interests and welfare. Discretion is only found in men of strong sense and good understanding; cunning is often to be met with in brutes themselves, and in persons who are but the fewest removes from them.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
Property may be destroyed and money may lose its purchasing power; but, character, health, knowledge and good judgment will always be in demand under all conditions.
—Roger Babson (1875–1967) American Economist
I have tried to make all my acts and commercial moves the result of definite consideration and sound judgment. There were never any great ventures or risks. I practiced honest, slow-growing business methods, and tried to back them with energy and good system.
—Marshall Field (1834–1906) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson, Philanthropist
As the touchstone which tries gold, but is not itself tried by gold, such is he who has the true standard of judgment.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Human judgment, like Luther’s drunken peasant, when saved from falling on one side, topples over on the other.
—Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–72) Italian Patriot, Political Leader
Judgments, value judgments concerning life, for or against, can in the last resort never be true: they possess value only as symptoms, they come into consideration only as symptoms—in themselves such judgments are stupidities.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
We are ashamed to seem evasive in the presence of a straightforward man, cowardly in the presence of a brave one, gross in the eyes of a refined one, and so on. We always imagine, and in imagining share, the judgments of the other mind.
—Charles Cooley (1864–1929) American Sociologist
If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
A man is not good or bad for one action.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
We do not judge men by what they are in themselves, but by what they are relatively to us.
—Sophie Swetchine (1782–1857) Russian Mystic, Writer
Discretion of speech is more than eloquence; and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words or in good order.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
One cool judgment is worth a thousand hasty counsels. The thing to do is to supply light and not heat.
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American Head of State
Notable talents are not necessarily connected with discretion.
—Junius Unidentified English Writer
The most necessary talent in a man of conversation, which is what we ordinarily intend by a gentleman, is a good judgment. He that has this in perfection is master of his companion, without letting him see it; and has the same advantage over men of other qualifications, as one that can see would have over a blind man of ten times his strength.
—Richard Steele (1672–1729) Irish Writer, Politician
To sit in judgment of those things which you perceive to be wrong or imperfect is to be one more person who is part of judgment, evil or imperfection.
—Wayne Dyer (1940–2015) American Self-Help Author
Never be a judge between thy friends in any matter where both set their hearts upon the victory. If strangers or enemies be litigants, whatever side thou favorest, thou gettest a friend; but when friends are the parties thou losest one.
—Jeremy Taylor
Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations than in their particular observations.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
It is with our judgments as with our watches: no two go just alike, yet each believes his own.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
The contemporary mind may in rare cases be taken by storm; but posterity never. The tribunal of the present is accessible to influence; that of the future is incorrupt.
—William Ewart Gladstone (1809–98) English Liberal Statesman, Prime Minister
Great Spirit, help me never to judge another until I have walked in his moccasins.
—American Indian Proverb
When you meet a man, you judge him by his clothes; when you leave, you judge him by his heart.
—Russian Proverb
The judges of normality are present everywhere. We are in the society of the teacher-judge, the doctor-judge, the educator-judge, the “social worker” -judge.
—Michel Foucault (1926–84) French Philosopher, Critic, Historian
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.
—Ambrose Hollingworth Redmoon (James Neil Hollingworth) (1933–96) American Writer
Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.
—Pierre-Marc-Gaston, duc de Levis
God alone can judge.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
While I am ready to adopt any well-grounded opinion, my inmost heart revolts against receiving the judgments of others respecting persons, and whenever I have done so, I have bitterly repented of it.
—Barthold G. Niebuhr (1776–1831) Danish-German Statesman, Banker, Historian
When you judge others,
you do not define them, you define yourself.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
Men in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the sense of touch, because everyone can see, but only a few can test by feeling. Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really are, and those few do not dare take a stand against the general opinion.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
The seat of knowledge is in the head; of wisdom, in the heart.—We are sure to judge wrong if we do not feel right.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
At twenty years of age the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Human nature is so constituted, that all see, and judge better, in the affairs of other men, than in their own.
—Terence (c.195–159 BCE) Roman Comic Dramatist
The judgment is like a pair of scales, and evidences like the weights; but the will holds the balances in its hand; and even a slight jerk will be sufficient, in many cases, to make the lighter scale appear the heavier.
—Richard Whately (1787–1863) English Philosopher, Theologian
Men’s judgments are a parcel of their fortunes; and things outward do draw the inward quality after them.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Human judgment of human actions is true and void , that is to say, first true and then void…. The judgment of the word is true, the judgment in itself is void…. Only he who is a party can really judge, but as a party he cannot judge. Hence it follows that there is no possibility of judgment in the world, only a glimmer of it.
—Franz Kafka (1883–1924) Austrian Novelist, Short Story Writer
It is well, when one is judging a friend, to remember that he is judging you with the same godlike and superior impartiality.
—Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) British Novelist, Playwright, Critic
I shall tell you a great secret my friend. Do not wait for the last judgment, it takes place every day.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
Let us remember, when we are inclined to be disheartened, that the private soldier is a poor judge of the fortunes of a great battle.
—William Motter Inge (1913–73) American Playwright, Novelist
Men of ill judgment often ignore the good that lies within their hands, till they have lost it.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
In order to judge of the inside of others, study your own; for men in general are very much alike, and though one has one prevailing passion, and another has another, yet their operations are much the same; and whatever engages or disgusts, pleases, or offends you in others will engage, disgust, please or offend others in you.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
As you inquire into issues and turn judgments around, you come to see that every perceived problem appearing “out there” is really nothing more than a misperception within your own thinking.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
The wise determine from the gravity of the case; the irritable, from sensibility to oppression; the high-minded, from disdain and indignation at abusive power in unworthy hands.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
All judgment reveals itself to be self-judgment in the end, and when this is understood a larger comprehension of the nature of life takes its place.
—David R. Hawkins (1927–2012) American Physician, Author
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
In our judgment of human transactions, the law of optics is reversed; we see the most indistinctly the objects which are close around us.
—Richard Whately (1787–1863) English Philosopher, Theologian