Quotes by Naming Things The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name. Confucius naming-things wisdom names Even now, it's still hard for him to say it. I don't blame him. It's an icky word. Why couldn't whoever was in charge of naming things call cancer 'sugar' and sugar, 'cancer'? People might not eat so much of the stuff then. And it's so much more pleasant to die of sugar. Sarah Wylie naming-things cancer people