If you see it as your mission to protect article content from the POV overzealousness of conservatives who don't care about Wikipedia policy, you are as POV as they are. If you see it as your mission to protect article content from the POV overzealousness of liberals who don't care about Wikipedia policy, you are as POV as they are. If you see it as your mission to protect article content from anyone who doesn't care about Wikipedia policy, you are a good Wikipedia editor. How often do you edit against your own bias? —June 2016.
A principle selectively applied, only when it serves your purpose, is not a principle but a weapon. —October 2016.
High intelligence is counterproductive in the absence of wisdom. —November 2016.
Neutrality looks like bias to those who don't recognize their own bias. —December 2016.
Speaking very emphatically, always with 100% unwavering certainty, does not make one more convincing. If anything, less so. No human can be that certain of anything in this infinitely complex world. The words "in my view" are golden. —January 2017.
In Wikipedia editing, the existence of bad stuff does not justify or excuse the addition or retention of other bad stuff of the same kind. Not all consistency is good consistency. —January 2018.
Challenging another editor's competence on some specific issue is not a failure to assume good faith. Good faith has exactly nothing to do with competence (look it up). I mention this only because this misapplication of the WP:AGF guideline is so widespread—even by some experienced editors—with very negative effects on collaboration. AGF is core to The Project despite being only a guideline, so it's important to understand it and apply it correctly. Don't be one of those who get this wrong. —February 2018.
The product of 17 years of self-selected self-governance, Wikipedia PAGs are a tangled labyrinth of watered-down and self-contradictory principles. For any proposition A, A and !A can usually be argued with equal PAG support. That renders PAGs useless as a guide. So-called policy-based discussions are in reality nothing more than editor viewpoints, and might as well be democratic voting. We are suffering from mass self-delusion, my friends. —May 2018.
Widespread good things should persist because they are good, not because they are widespread. "This is how it's normally done" is a terrible argument for anything, allowing widespread bad things to persist. Instead of making that argument, explain why it's better than the alternatives. Change is not a bad thing, and resistance to change impedes progress. —May 2019.
Hyperbolic language (exaggeration for effect) is a sign of hyperbolic thinking, and hyperbolic thinking is irrational by definition. What we think influences what we say, and vice versa, in a feedback loop. Avoid hyperbolic language and thinking. —May 2020.
Please do not bite the newcomers unless they are clearly wrong, unwilling to learn, and unresponsive to a gentler approach. In those cases, please bite with increasing force until they improve or leave. Always bite with basic human respect; the object is not to demean or humiliate although that is often the unfortunate effect. —August 2020.
Being retired is being tired again. —May 2023.
Those who know their limits feel embarrassed less often. —February 2025.
Pornography: If you talk to the people on the screen, you may be addicted. —April 2025.
WP:AGF: I pay a higher price for trusting too little than for trusting too much. What are you paying? —May 2025.
In the United States, at least, a criminal defense attorney will often go for a drink with the prosecutor who just defeated them at trial. That's how Wikipedia editing should be. Why isn't it? Rather, why isn't it a lot more? —May 2025.
Off-topic banter: While building this house, it doesn't hurt to take a break with one or two others, sit down, enjoy the sunshine, down a cold beer apiece, and shoot the shit for a few minutes. Then we get up and go back to work, re-energized. The trick is to limit the number and length of our breaks. Eyebrows are rightly raised if we spend half our time drinking beer and shooting shit. We could have our unpay docked. —June 2025.
Very often, the smartest thing I can say is nothing. —August 2025.
On Wikipedia, "trial" is a concept that should be deprecated because it harms The Project in a very significant way. Everything should be treated as a trial, so we have no need for the word. This is merely part of the systemic resistance to dynamic change (i.e., potential progress) on Wikipedia, which is resulting in stagnation and even gradual decay. No, Wikipedia's editing environment is not yet "good enough", and that is not to be taken so casually, WP:NOHURRY or not WP:NOHURRY. The room for improvement is a large room. —September 2025.
An apology followed by "but" is not an apology. A gift with strings attached is not a gift. —September–October 2025.
Silence in talk spaces is not clear communication, but most of us use it like it is. Silence can mean a number of things. —September 2025.
Wikipedia's government model—self-selected self-governance—lacks the capacity to solve the larger problems. It should be replaced by something that works better. One can dream. —September 2025.
My mind remained boggled for a solid five years after registration. I was gabberflasted. Then the bogglement gradually receded, and my mind is now only about twenty percent boggled. If your mind is boggled, worry not: you have plenty of company. —October 2025.
Respond to the whole argument, not just the part you can effectively counter. Or concede. —October 2025.
When editing Wikipedia, don't act impulsively. Count to 100. Then count to 100 again. Then decide what to do, if anything. —October 2025.
You are not as different as you think. Nobody is. Make personal connections and find commonality. —October 2025.
Everyone has an imagination. Have you unlocked yours? —October 2025.
In Wikipedia discussions, people will sometimes take advantage of your open mind. That is not a good reason to close it. —October 2025.
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