To Err is Human – It’s Been Said By Many

Posted August 9th, 2007

I’ve used the quote “to err is human” in writing about human error. And I wanted to cite the person who said it first. That is difficult to discover. I knew that Alexander Pope said, “To err is human, to forgive divine.” I discovered that Mae West said, “To err is human, but it feels divine.”

One source cited Cicero as the person who said it. I would like that, since Cicero said, “Only a fool persists in error” or something similar. Another source says Seneca is the original source.

If you look on the Internet, you can find sites that cite Cicero and sites that cite Seneca. I know Cicero said, “Any man(we would say Anyone today) can make an error; only a fool persists in error.” That could be interpreted that “to err is human,” I guess. At www.worldofquotes.com. Cicero is quoted: To err is human, but to persevere in error is only the act of a fool. [Lat., Cujusvis hominis est errare, nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare.] That is a confirmation, although the Latin is more complex.

Seneca is more often credited with “Errare humanum est; perseverare diabolicum” or “To err is human, to persevere in error is diabolical(or of the devil).” Cicero and Seneca sure sound similar.

My conclusion is that humans make errors, and it’s been said for a long time.  The most important step is to learn from our errors, and don’t make the same mistake over and over again.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 9th, 2007 at 2:56 pm and is filed under Excellence Book, Human Factors, Observations.