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Apology and Excuses
- Beware of too much explaining, lest we end by too much excusing.1834–1902 British historian: attributed by Acton to the Duc de Broglie, Lectures in Modern History (1906), lecture delivered Cambridge, June 1895
- Very sorry can't come. Lie follows by post.telegraphed message to the Prince of Wales, on being summoned to dine at the eleventh hour1846–1919 British politician: Ralph Nevill The World of Fashion 1837–1922 (1923)
- Never make a defence or apology before you be accused.1600–49 British monarch, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1625: letter to Lord Wentworth, 3 September 1636, in Sir Charles Petrie (ed.) Letters of King Charles I (1935)
- Never complain and never explain.1804–81 British Tory statesman and novelist; Prime Minister 1868, 1874–80: J. Morley Life of William Ewart Gladstone (1903) vol. 1; see Fisher
- To accuse requires less eloquence (such is man's nature) than to excuse.1588–1679 English philosopher: Leviathan (1651) pt. 2, ch. 19
- Never explain—your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.1859–1915 American writer: The Motto Book (1907); see Disraeli, Wodehouse
- Several excuses are always less convincing than one.1894–1963 English novelist: Point Counter Point (1928)
- A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser to-day than he was yesterday.1688–1744 English poet: Miscellanies (1727) vol. 2 ‘Thoughts on Various Subjects’
- It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them.1881–1975 English writer; an American citizen from 1955: The Man Upstairs (1914) title story; see Hubbard
