The Edmondson Blog

Don’t think there are no crocodiles just because the water is calm.
Facts do not cease to exist just because they are being ignored.
We have no eternal allies and no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual and those interests it is our duty to follow.
The only statistics worth believing are those you falsify yourself.
For evil to triumph it is only necessary for good men to do nothing.
If you wait by the river long enough you will see the bodies of your enemies float by.
Good taste and humour are a contradiction in terms, like a chaste whore.
You learn most from mistakes that are made. The art is to do most of your learning from other peoples mistakes and not you own.
When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of he always declares it is his duty.
Success has always been a great liar.
It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.
Our enemies’ opinion of us comes closer to the truth than our own.
No man of honour ever quite lives up to his code, any more than a moral man manages to avoid sin.
We find it easy to believe that praise is sincere: why should anyone lie in telling us the truth?
There are times when lying is the most sacred of duties.
[Talking about a competitor’s product:] It’s a dog – it howls. Ours is a tiger – it p-u-u-u-r-r-s.
I don’t say we should misbehave, but we should look as though we could.
Deadlines are the mothers of invention.
A stiff apology is a second insult.
A lie is an abomination unto the Lord and a very present help in trouble.
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.
You raise your voice when you should reinforce your argument.
There is a time for departure even when there’s no certain place to go.
To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.
Most people have seen worse things in private than they pretend to be shocked at in public.
You are permitted in time of great danger to walk with the devil until you have crossed the bridge.