Dec 24, 2014

Where negative is not a failure, part II

Almost 3 years ago, one of our most viral blog posts compiled what we considered the best quotes on mistakes, errors and negative results from famous people and philosophers. We have updated this list with new quotes for you to end our publication year in 2014.

Merry Christmas! 

Famous quotes:

 "If your experiment needs statistics, you ought to have done a better experiment" --- Ernest Rutherford 

"It is in the admission of ignorance and the admission of uncertainty that there is a hope for the continuous motion of human beings in some direction that doesn't get confined, permanently blocked, as it has so many times before in various periods in the history of man." --- Richard P. Feynman 

 “The end of surprise would be the end of science. To this extent, the scientist must constantly seek and hope for surprises.”--- Robert Friedel

 “If you want to succeed, d;lkmouble your failure rate.”--- Thomas J. Watson 

“All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” --- Samuel Beckett

 “"Negative" results are good data. And publishing all your results is basic honesty, not science 2.0!”--- Matt Hodkings

 “It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed.”--- Ram Dass

“Life is an experiment in which you may fail or succeed. Explore more, expect least.” --- Santosh Kalwar 

 “Everything must be taken into account. If the fact will not fit the theory---let the theory go.” --- Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles 

“Science, my boy, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth.” --- Jules Verne

 “Just because an idea is true doesn't mean it can be proved. And just because an idea can be proved doesn't mean it's true.” --- Jonah Lehrer

“…if you’re doing an experiment, you should report everything that you think might make it invalid—not only what you think is right about it: other causes that could possibly explain your results; and things you thought of that you’ve eliminated by some other experiment, and how they worked—to make sure the other fellow can tell they have been eliminated.” --- Richard P. Feynman

“Experience never errs; it is only your judgments that err by promising themselves effects such as are not caused by your experiments”.--- Leonardo da Vinci “We must conduct research and then accept the results. If they don't stand up to experimentation, Buddha's own words must be rejected.”--- Dalai Lama XIV 

Written by Paula Ruiz and Dr. David Alcántara for The All Results Journals

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