31 Evaluation Quotes

The total number of Dirichlet's publications is not large: jewels are not weighed on a grocery scale.

One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.

Let us take a patriot, where we can meet him; and, that we may not flatter ourselves by false appearances, distinguish those marks which are certain, from those which may deceive; for a man may have the external appearance of a patriot, without the constituent qualities; as false coins have often lustre, though they want weight.

One swallow does not make a summer, nor does one day; and so too one day, or a short time, does not make a man blessed and happy.

...in war, the advantages and disadvantages of a single action could only be determined by the final balance.

Morphy and Capablanca had enormous talent, Steinitz was very great too. Alekhine was great, but I am not a big fan of his. Maybe it's just my taste. I've studied his games a lot, but I much prefer Capablanca and Morphy. Alekhine had a rather heavy style, Capablanca was much more brilliant and talented, he had a real light touch. Everyone I've spoken to who saw Capablanca play still speak of him with awe. If you showed him any position he would instantly tell you the right move. When I used to go to the Manhattan Chess Club back in the fifties, I met a lot of old-timers there who knew Capablanca, because he used to come around to the Manhattan club in the forties - before he died in the early forties. They spoke about Capablanca with awe. I have never seen people speak about any chess player like that, before or since. Capablanca really was fantastic. But even he had his weaknesses, especially when you play over his games with his notes he would make idiotic statements like 'I played the rest of the game perfectly.' But then you play through the moves and it is not true at all. But the thing that was great about Capablanca was that he really spoke his mind, he said what he believed was true, he said what he felt.

As an instructor, you must be able to distinguish between poor performance caused by lack of ability or aptitude on the part of the student and poor performance caused by lack of effort. You should treat the first with patience and the latter with firmness. You must never apply sarcasm and ridicule.

One feels of him that there was much he did not understand, but not that there was anything that he was frightened of saying or thinking. I have never been able to feel much liking for Gandhi, but I do not feel sure that as a political thinker he was wrong in the main, nor do I believe that his life was a failure.

The leg division, Mr Spiggot. You are deficient in it to the tune of one. Your right leg, I like. I like your right leg, it's a lovely leg for the role. That's what I said when I saw it come in. I said, 'that's a lovely leg for the role'. I've got nothing against your right leg. The trouble is - neither have you. You fall down on your left.

I prefer to evaluate a film on the basis of what it intends to do, not on what I think it should have done.

I can't say much about Gould's strengths as a scientist, but for a long time I've regarded him as the second most influential historian of science (next to Thomas Kuhn).

'He's about the toughest football player I've ever seen. Not the toughest quarterback-the toughest player, period.'

I do not believe that Landmark or The Landmark Forum is a cult or sect, or meets the criteria of a cult or sect.

We will not praise Mahomet's moral precepts as always of the superfinest sort; yet it can be said that there is always a tendency to good in them; that they are the true dictates of a heart aiming towards what is just and true

Speer is more of an artist by nature. Admittedly he has great organizational talent but politically he is too inexperienced to be totally reliable in this critical time.

Critics have their purposes, and they're supposed to do what they do, but sometimes they get a little carried away with what they think someone should have done, rather than concerning themselves with what they did.

The best form of government is that which is most likely to prevent the greatest sum of evil.

It had only one fault. It was kind of lousy.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

When a thought is too weak to be expressed simply, it should be rejected.

The most tremendous genius raised Mozart above all masters, in all centuries and in all the arts. ~ Richard Wagner

All tip and no iceberg.

'Not very romantic.'