Gilbert’s Law of Appearances
W. S. Gilbert
Things are seldom what they seem / Skim milk masquerades as cream.
Gumperson’s Law
R. F. Gumperson
The contradictory of a welcome probability will assert itself whenever such an eventuality is likely to be most frustrating, or, in other words, the outcome of a given desired probability will be inverse to the degree of desirability.
Haldane’s Observation
J. B. S. Haldane
The universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.
Heraclitus’s Law
Heraclitus
You can’t step twice into the same river, for other waters are ever flowing on to you.
Herodotus’s Law
Herodotus
Circumstances rule men; men do not rule circumstances.
Hippocrates’ Second Law
Hippocrates
Life is short, the art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult.
Holmes’s First Law
Sherlock Holmes
Eliminate all other factors and the one which remains will be the truth.
Holmes’s Second Law
Sherlock Holmes
It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data.
Kant’s Categorical Imperative
Emanuel Kant
Act only on that maxim which you can at the same time wish that it should become a universal law.
La Rochefoucauld’s Rule
François La Rochefoucauld
In the misfortunes of our best friends we find something that is not displeasing.
