From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] The Wikipedia Creed

I believe in knowledge. I believe that making knowledge available to others is a good thing. I believe that while inaccuracy and deception may be morally justified on occasions, they are inherently evil. I believe that dispelling ignorance is in general a good thing.

I believe in cooperation and teamwork. I hope and believe that by working together, Wikipedians will achieve results better than any of us could produce on our own.

I believe in the Internet. I believe that it offers opportunities for human advancement that outweigh its dangers.

I believe in wikis. They are fun. I'll try not to let anyone else spoil my fun, if they don't seem to want to have fun too that's their problem. And I'll try very hard not to spoil anyone else's fun (even if they seem not to care about mine).

I believe in improving articles. I believe that no article is perfect, however much I may have worked on it, and will give others the chance to contribute to it too.

I believe in NPOV. I may not know what it means, but I accept that it's not negotiable and I think it can work. I will try to put whatever understanding I do have into practice whenever I edit an article.

I believe in consensus. I don't know what it means either, but I'll try to make it work anyway.

I'm wrong sometimes, otherwise I wouldn't be human, and right sometimes too, otherwise I wouldn't be here.

I believe in being polite and considerate to others. I recognise that if I can't do that, Wikipedia doesn't want me. But I also believe in forgiveness, which is just as well because I sometimes wish I hadn't pressed "save" myself.

I believe in welcoming newbies and anonymous editors. I will always try to remember what it was like to be one.

I believe in discussion. I will try to initiate and participate in discussions rather than making an article into a battleground, and in that I am able I will try to encourage others to do the same.

I believe (sometimes) in Wikipedia policies and guidelines and I particularly expect administrators (etc) to follow them when exercising their sysop (etc) powers. But I also try to bear in mind what the rules are there for, and notice that whenever we have a consensus that the rules are wrong, we seem to go with the consensus and tidy up the rules later (sometimes).

I believe in copyleft. I will respect the GFDL.

I believe in the project. Wikipedia won't solve all of the world's problems, but I believe it can help to solve some of them, however slightly. Whenever I edit I will focus on the goal of writing an encyclopedia, and use Wikipedia's resources only to advance that goal.

I may not believe Wikipedia is perfect, but...

I believe in Wikipedia.