One of the little-celebrated powers of Presidents (and other high government officials) is to listen to their critics with just enough sympathy to ensure their silence.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Mistakes can lead to lasting recognition if they are significant enough.
This quote suggests that even in failure, there is an opportunity for one to be remembered or achieve a form of immortality through the magnitude of their mistakes. It highlights that making a bold error can sometimes be more memorable and impactful than success, reinforcing the idea that notoriety can come from various forms of action, even if they are not traditionally viewed as positive.
Themes
ImmortalityErrorFailureRecognitionNotoriety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a speech about overcoming failures in entrepreneurship.
More from John Kenneth Galbraith
All quotes →The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.
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People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage.
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Were it part of our everyday education and comment that the corporation is an instrument for the exercise of power, that it belongs to the process by which we are governed, there would then be debate on how that power is used and how it might be made subordinate to the public will and need. This debate is avoided by propagating the myth that the power does not exist.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
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He is a despicable sage whose wisdom does not profit himself.
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