I am only too aware that I am open to Rees's Second Law of Quotation: 'However sure you are that you have attributed a quotation correctly, an earlier source will be pointed out to you.'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Rees admits that being confident about a quote's source often leads to being corrected.
- In plain terms
- Being sure about a quote usually means you are wrong.
- What can you take from it?
- Stay humble about your knowledge of sources.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When were you sure and wrong?
- How do you handle correction?
Another view
Sometimes you are actually correct and do not need to doubt.
More from Nigel Rees
An analagous process I shall call Churchillian Drift...Whereas quotations with an apothegmatic feel are normally ascribed to Shaw, those with a more grandiose …
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