Attributed to Maimonides
«"It is better to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death."»
Misattributed
Verdict
It is not in Maimonides's work
A widely quoted paraphrase of negative commandment 290 of the Book of Commandments. The idea is his, but the figure of "a thousand" comes from modern translations of the Arabic original; the medieval Hebrew version consulted (Warsaw, 1883) states the argument without that formula.
What they did say
Verified words of Maimonides
«The foundation of foundations and the pillar of the sciences is to know that there is a First Being, and that He brings into being all that exists.»
Mishné Torá, Leyes de los fundamentos de la Torá 1:1
«And what is the way to love and fear Him? When a man contemplates His great and wondrous works and creatures and sees in them His wisdom, which has no measure or end, at once he loves.»
Mishné Torá, Leyes de los fundamentos de la Torá 2:2
«The right way is the middle measure of each and every disposition that a man has.»
Mishné Torá, Leyes de las disposiciones (De'ot) 1:4