Attempting Quote by Vince Cable
“When my job was attempting to predict future economic developments for the Shell oil company, I was frequently reminded of an Arabic saying: 'Those who claim to foresee the future are lying, even if by chance they are later proved right.'”
About This Quote
Source Interview: Business Insights, 2015
Predicting complex futures is unreliable; claims of certainty often hide ignorance.
In simple terms: Future predictions are often wrong.
Key Takeaway
Question skepticism.
Themes
uncertainty
prediction
economics
Mood
cautious
analytical
Type
advice
philosophical
When to use this quote
- investment decisions
- policy planning
- risk assessment
Key Concepts
futurology
probability
bias
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you verify a forecast’s validity?
- What safeguards guard against overconfidence?
A Different Perspective
Even accurate predictions may be coincidental, not skillful.
![“The lie is the future, one may venture to say [...]. To tell the truth is, on the contrary, to say what is or what will have been and it would instead prefer the past.” quote by Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c23/jacques-derrida-3948_time_the-lie-is-the-future-one-may-venture-to_2280404.jpg)
