Certainty

A principle is not a principle until it costs you something.
~ Bill Bernbach, Bill Bernbach said ... (1989).

The crow wished every thing was black; the owl, that every thing was white.
~ William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93). Proverbs of Hell

I have taken new comfort and refuge in the doctrine that advises one not to seek tranquility in certainty, but in permanently suspended judgment.
~ William Boyd, Brazzaville Beach: A Novel (1990).

Up high, the flies are playing,
And frolicking, and swaying.
The frog thinks: Dance! I know
You'll end up here below.
~ Wilhelm Busch, Impending Doom (1880).

Inquiry is fatal to certainty.
~ William James "Will" Durant

Tolerance grows only when faith loses certainty; certainty is murderous.
~ William James "Will" Durant, The Story of Civilization, Volume IV (1950). The Age of Faith

The longer I live, the more deeply I'm convinced that the difference between the successful person and the failure, the strong and the weak, is a decision.
~ Willie E. Gary

If you do right by them, and do not become careless and lax, they will do the right thing in return. One can never be 100 percent certain about people.
~ Gunther Gebel-Williams, in The New York Times (20 July 2001). Gunther Gebel-Williams, Circus Animal Trainer, Dies at 66

In dealing with Englishmen you can be sure of one thing only, that the logical solution will not be adopted.
~ William Ralph (Dean) Inge

Life is so short, and knowledge comes so slowly to man in this mortal state, that nothing should be represented under an obscure form, which is capable of a plain one.
~ William Jones (of Nayland), in The Theological, Philosophical and Miscellaneous Works of the Rev. William Jones, Vol. IX (1801). Introduction

One thing we may prophesy of the future for certain -- it will be unlike the past.
~ Lord Kelvin (William Thomson), Address at the annual meeting of the Christian Evidence Society (23 May 1889)

Nothing in life is certain except Negative Patient Care Outcome and Revenue Enhancement.
~ William D. Lutz, in Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (November 2000).

The other guys are selling certainty. Not me. I'm on the corner with doubt.
~ Bill Maher, Religulous (2008 documentary film).

That we see, is only seeming;
That we do, we are but dreaming.
~ William Tidd Matson, from Poems (1858). Uncertainty

[T]here is only one thing about which I am certain, and this is that there is very little about which one can be certain.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Summing Up (1938).

And are ye sure the news is true?
And are ye sure he's weel?
~ William Julius Mickle, in the Eskdale and Liddesdale Advertiser (1848). The Mariner's Wife

The only sure thing about luck is that it will change.
~ Wilson Mizner

As it seldom happens that absolute certainty can be obtained in human affairs, therefore reason and public utility require that judges and all mankind, in forming their opinions of the truth of facts, should be regulated by the superior number of probabilities on one side and on the other.
~ William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (Lord Mansfield), stated in the Douglas Case (c. 1752).

So long as men praise you, you can only be sure that you are not yet on your own true path but on someone else's.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human. First Sequel: Mixed Opinions and Maxims (March 1879).

I rise from bed the first thing in the morning, leaving my couch not because I am dissatisfied with it, but because I cannot carry it with me during the day.
~ (Edgar Wilson) "Bill" Nye, Remarks (1886). Habits of a Literary Man

If we are but sure the end is right, we are too apt to gallop over all bounds to compass it; not considering the lawful ends may be very unlawfully attained.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. Balance

The best way to make a fire with two sticks is to make sure one of them is a match.
~ Will Rogers

If you can measure it, don't. If you can weigh it, it isn't worth the bother. It isn't what you're after. It isn't going to get it.
~ William Saroyan, Here Comes There Goes You Know Who (1961).

The circumstances of the world are so variable that an irrevocable purpose or opinion is almost synonymous with a foolish one.
~ William Henry Seward

Be absolute for death; either death or life
Shall thereby be the sweeter. Reason thus with life.
~ William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure. Act III, scene i

Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof.
~ William Shakespeare, Othello. Act III, scene iii

But yet, I'll make assurance double sure,
And take a bond of fate.
~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth. Act IV, scene i

I cannot tell; things must be as they may.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry V. Act II, scene i

My resolution's placed, and I have nothing
Of woman in me; now from head to foot
I am marble-constant, now the fleeting moon
No planet is of mine.
~ William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra. Act V, scene ii

There's nothing level in our cursed natures
But direct villany.
~ William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens. Act IV, scene iii

If you're not sure what to do with the ball, just pop it in the net and we'll discuss your options afterwards.
~ Bill Shankly (advice to a football player)

Nothing is certain in London but expense, which I can ill bear.
~ William Shenstone, quoted in Curiosities of Literature (1823).

Whatever situation in life you ever wish or propose for yourself, acquire a clear and lucid idea of the inconveniences attending it.
~ William Shenstone, in Works in Verse and Prose, Vol. II (1764). Essays on Men, Manners, and Things. The Hermit. In the Manner of Cambray

It is worse to be irresolute than to be wrong.
~ William Strunk, Jr., quoted in Essays of E. B. White (1977). Will Strunk

Of what am I wholly certain? That I am under a law to seek truth; that I am under a law to develop and to cultivate graciousness and love. I have not chosen these. I do not patronize these. They are as much a law of nature as gravitation. They are the essence of our spiritual nature.
~ William Laurence Sullivan

[W]hat we prepare for is what we shall get.
~ William Graham Sumner, from War and Other Essays (1911). I: War (1903)

O-tay!
~ William B. Thomas, Signature line of "Buckwheat" from the Our Gang/Little Rascals series of comedies (c. 1934)

When you had Willie Stargell on your team, it was like having a diamond ring on your finger.
~ Charles William "Chuck" Tanner

We must be silent before we can listen. We must listen before we can learn. We must learn before we can prepare. We must prepare before we can serve. We must serve before we can lead.
~ William Arthur Ward, from Thoughts of a Christian Optimist: The Words of William Arthur Ward (1968).

The river seeking for the sea
Confronts the dam and precipice,
Yet knows it cannot fail or miss;
You will be what you will to be!
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox, from Custer and Other Poems (1896). Will

I am convinced that it is the light and the way.
~ George C. Williams, Princeton University Press (1966). Adaptation and Natural Selection

He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder.
~ Tad Williams, The Dragonbone Chair (1988).

Don't believe anything totally, and don't reject anything totally. Remember that most of the universe is in the 'maybe' state.
~ Robert Anton Wilson, in Kindred Spirit Magazine, Issue 40 (Interview; Autumn 1997). Radical Intelligence

I consider dogmatic belief and dogmatic denial very childish forms of conceit in a world of infinitely whirling complexity. None of us can see enough from one corner of space-time to know "all" about the rest of space-time.
~ Robert Anton Wilson, The Thing That Ate The Constitution (2002).

Only the madman is absolutely sure.
~ Robert Anton Wilson, The Illuminatus! Trilogy (1984).

[T]here is absolutely nothing that can be taken for granted in this world.
~ Robert Anton Wilson, The Widow's Son (1985).

Whatever the thinker thinks, the prover proves.
~ Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising (1983).

Whenever people are certain they understand our peculiar situation here on this planet, it is because they have accepted a religious Faith or a secular Ideology (Ideologies are the modern form of Faiths) and just stopped thinking.
~ Robert Anton Wilson, Cosmic Trigger, Volume II. Down to Earth (1991).

I only wish that I could be as sure of anything as my opponent is of everything.
~ William Windham

So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
~ William Wordsworth, My heart leaps up when I behold (26 March 1802)

Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide;
The Form remains, the Function never dies.
~ William Wordsworth, The River Duddon, A Series of Sonnets; Vaudracour and Julia: and Other Poems (1820). Afterthought