From a well-known bicycle mechanic, circa 1902 --
"It was not my intention to advocate dishonesty in argument nor a bad
spirit in a controversy. No truth is without some mixture of error,
and no error so false but that it possesses some elements of truth.
If a man is in too big a hurry to give up an error he is liable to
give up some truth with it, and in accepting the arguments of the
other man he is sure to get some error with it. Honest argument is
merely a process of mutually picking the beams and motes out of each
other's eyes so both can see clearly. Men become wise just as they
become rich, more by what they save than by what they receive. After
I get hold of a truth I hate to lose it again, and I like to sift all
the truth out before I give up an error."
