Who really said it
The Second Sin, “Personal Conduct,” cited p. 51 (1973)
Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?
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Unconfirmed quote & credit
“The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naïve forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget” — Attributed to Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin (1973), “Personal Conduct,” p. 51; original page not inspected.
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Provenance
The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naïve forgive and Short excerpt
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Context
The sentence is cited to “Personal Conduct” in Szasz’s The Second Sin. Its three-part structure separates forgiveness from forgetting, rather than treating the two as interchangeable. It belongs to a collection of provocative observations on human conduct, not a clinical instruction about memory or trauma.
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Transcribes the two aphorisms and identifies their sections and pages in The Second Sin (1973).
His published CV lists The Second Sin, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1973; bibliographic corroboration, not inspection of the cited pages.
The author’s site cites another aphorism to The Second Sin (1973); confirms the book’s quotation tradition but not these two sentences.
Documents his dates, SUNY career and criticism of coercive psychiatry; biographical context only.
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For writers & researchers
The Second Sin, “Personal Conduct,” cited p. 51. 1973.
Quotle.info. Who really said 'The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naïve forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget'? Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/the-stupid-neither-forgive-nor-forget-the-naive-forgive-and/