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A familiar proverb runs:

A broken clock is right twice a day.

is a saying used to express that even an entity which is typically wrong, would sometimes be right accidentally.

Is there an inverse saying, one which encapsulates the idea that even something which is typically correct can sometimes be wrong?

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    Interestingly (to me), this idiom is probably understood by many fewer people than it was when analog clocks were the primary timekeepers. Commented Aug 27 at 13:37
  • @JimMack — Digital comes with an AM or PM marker Commented Aug 28 at 1:52
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    I’m almost tempted to suggest ‘a broken day is right twice a clock’, but I won’t. // @TinfoilHat But a broken digital clock is generally just a blank screen and thus never right. Commented Aug 28 at 12:59
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    Also, I've only heard the expression as "stopped clock", not "broken clock". A clock can be broken in ways that make it unreadable. Commented Aug 28 at 13:21
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    @TinfoilHat a broken digital clock typically shows nothing. A broken analog clock still has their hands pointing at a time. Not sure what AM or PM has to do with it. Commented Aug 29 at 8:33

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I doubt there is a perfect opposite of the saying a broken clock is right two times a day. But something that somewhat approaches it is:

Even Homer sometimes nods

idiom saying (also Homer sometimes nods, even Homer nods)
used to say that even an expert sometimes makes mistakes (Cambridge)

There is also this old saying:

“There are spots even on the sun” is an old proverb said to date back to the 18th century. It means that even the greatest, most important people still have their faults. (source)

I also came across this saying, which seems more appropriate for objects, compared to the two former ones which rather describe persons:

The best cart may over­throw.

But I only find it listed, never explained. See this A Complete Collection of English Proverbs, for example.

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    Strictly speaking, these are all more what I would call "sayings" or "refrains" or "proverbs" than they are "idioms". "A stitch in time saves nine" is the cat's pajamas, and all that rot. :) Commented Aug 27 at 13:42
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    Proverbs etc are usually statements: wise comments / advice; encouragements; hortatives ... at sentence level. Idioms tend to be phrases or subjectless clauses ('tough cookie' / 'bête noir' / 'ship of the desert' /// 'kick the bucket' / 'go for a Burton' ...). Both typically use metaphor (localised comparison with some feature of something largely dissimilar). Commented Aug 27 at 14:25
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    Thank you! I do find it fascinating that the clock proverb has more daily usage, and the inverse proverbs are rarely seen like these ones. Even ChatGPT and Gemini had trouble finding an inverse proverb. Commented Aug 27 at 15:05
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    I find the examples abstruse to say the least. I have never said, heard or read any of them. Commented Aug 28 at 12:33
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    @Greybeard I’ve never hear the cart one, but while the sunspot one is more of an old saying and not necessarily well-known, it – and variations of it – are easily understandable (and not too far off from ‘every rose has its thorn’ or ‘every silver lining has a cloud’). But ‘even Homer [sometimes] nods’ is perfectly standard and normal; not abstruse in the least. Commented Aug 28 at 13:06
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Used of human failings:

Nobody's perfect

All people have faults or make mistakes. Used as a means of consolation or of mitigating judgment or criticism against someone or something.

  • A: "I'm sorry I screwed up our presentation today." B: "Hey, nobody's perfect. It's not the end of the world or anything."
  • Nobody's perfect, so I try not to be too judgmental of other people.

[Farlex Dictionary of Idioms{sic}]

We all make the occasional mistake.

  • However we all make the occasional mistake and it is not something to beat yourself up over if you get an order wrong.

[Amazon Sales Forum]

These 'fixed phrases' (actually sentences) are not idioms as they are totally transparent (and sentences). They aren't really proverbs either. I'd class them as aphorisms: pithy observations.

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    "Nobody's perfect," if one is feeling fancy, can be upgraded to a bit of Pope, "To err is human" Commented Aug 27 at 14:47
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    And there’s “even geniuses/experts/professionals/doctors/adults make mistakes.” Commented Aug 27 at 22:05
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    Pobody's nerfect Commented Aug 28 at 14:11
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    To err is human but to really foul things up requires a computer. Commented Aug 29 at 5:56
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    @AndyBonner Ah, but... "Practice makes perfert" once appeared in a received email message... Needed a bit more practice, imo... :-) Commented Aug 29 at 10:03
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A well-known saying is "None but a fool is always right". It means that only foolish think they can never be wrong, and wisdom lies in believing you can be mistaken and learning from it.

Another proverb is "The best horse may stumble". It meansEven the most reliable people can make mistakes, and one should not trust anyone blindly.

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    These suggestions could form the basis of a good answer if you simply add some references to support them. Commented Aug 29 at 15:17
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Statisticians have Cromwell's rule (from a letter written on 3 August 1650) to discourage giving 0% or 100% probabilities to (non-tautological) statements

I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you may be mistaken.

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    I’d not heard of this before, and I must admit I’m rather puzzled as to why Cromwell (or the addressees?) was located inside Christ’s bowels when he wrote… Commented Aug 29 at 18:09
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    @JanusBahsJacquet See stats.se for examples of usage. Note that "in the bowels of Jesus Christ" (ἐν σπλάγχνοις χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ) was used by Paul in Philippians 1:8 and "bowels" appears in a similar sense elsewhere - modern dynamic equivalence translations of the Bible sometimes use words like "pity", "compassion", "affection" or "love" instead of the literal "bowels". Commented Aug 29 at 19:19
  • Ah, I’m familiar with that sense of σπλάγχνον (cf. also Modern Greek ��υσπλαχνία ‘compassion’), but being more of an ignorer than a scholar of the Bible, I didn’t realise the very literal translation ‘bowels’ had been used in the same extended sense in English. Commented Aug 29 at 19:37
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I think therre is something along the line of

"A person with one clock always knows the exact time. A person with two clocks always has doubts"

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    Especially if they're travelling with different velocities. Commented Aug 30 at 11:56
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A common colloquial saying is:

It happens to the best of us.

Wiktionary defines the phrase as:

Used when someone's mistakes or flaws are acknowledged, as a reminder that everyone makes mistakes and has flaws.

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  • I've also heard that phrased as “It happens to the best, it happens to the rest.”  (In the movie House Of Games, though I doubt it originated there.) Commented Aug 29 at 15:02
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Even a bad example is still an example.

"A broken clock is right twice a day"? means you can be wrong and yet right twice a day. "

Even a bad example is still an example" means that you can be wrong and yet valuable all the time.

My not be the best example of 'opposite', but closer to opposite than some of the examples provided.

From your perspective it could be a bad example of an answer. ;-)

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  • "A broken clock is right twice a day"? means you can be wrong and yet right twice a day. "Even a bad example is still an example" means that you can be wrong and yet valuable all the time. My not be the definition of 'opposite', but closer to the opposite than some of the examples provided. I guess from your perspective it could be a bad example of an answer. ;-) Commented Sep 12 at 11:04
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Even someone who’s usually right can sometimes be wrong.

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    Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. Commented Sep 6 at 18:38
  • This means the opposite. A broken clock usually isn't right. Commented Sep 7 at 16:37
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I use the "broken clock" proverb in reference to some policies of Donald Trump that I agree with--especially if talking with fellow Democrats, liberals, or progressives--who reflexively might be against a policy for no other reason than it's his policy.

I coined a phrase, that I have used a lot recently, in regard to Elon Musk: "Elon Musk [or other smart, successful, intelligent person--Warren Buffet, Michael Bloomberg, etc] is a genius, and like many geniuses he overestimates his intelligence and expertise.

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  • Thanks for contributing Justin! This question is looking for existing phrases that would be as well-known as the clock example. While your phrase might be useful, it's not a preexisting phrase, so it doesn't answer this question. (hence the downvotes) Commented Aug 29 at 19:10
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"A watched pot never boils"

While a pot on a fire or stove top with adequate heat applied will always boil in time, the saying states (but does not really mean) that watching a pot will cause it to take an infinite time to boil.
The true meaning is that it seems to take much longer if you wathc it whil it is heating, but the face value meaning is that it never happens.

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  • That relates to something different - that's about duration (apparent or actual), not about whether something, or someone, is correct. Commented Aug 29 at 15:16

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