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28 Dec 06 - 01:13 PM (#1920593) Subject: BS: Name the Author From: Slag Who said "Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instanly recognizes genius..." Who was the author? |
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28 Dec 06 - 01:18 PM (#1920600) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Bagpuss Arthur Conan Doyle. Do I get a prize? |
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28 Dec 06 - 01:20 PM (#1920604) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Helen Without Googling, I would suggest Mark Twain, because it sounds a bit Twainish to me. My next thought was Oscar Wilde, but I don't think it fits him as well as some others. [I'm going to try to resist Googling and wait until the answer is revealed here.] Helen |
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28 Dec 06 - 01:23 PM (#1920606) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Slag Hey, you got the Prize, Bagpuss! I hope you knew that all on your own because, like virtue, its it's own reward! Remember which story? |
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28 Dec 06 - 01:27 PM (#1920611) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Don Firth Yeah, Bagpuss has it. Arthur Conan Doyle. One of the Sherlock Holmes stories, but I'm not about to wade through my copy of "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" and try to find out which one. Don Firth |
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28 Dec 06 - 01:32 PM (#1920615) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Slag I say Firth. The game's afoot and you have no desire to seek out the culprit? |
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28 Dec 06 - 01:35 PM (#1920618) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Slag Hint: Volume II, page 773 |
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28 Dec 06 - 03:02 PM (#1920681) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Alice was it Valley of Fear? |
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28 Dec 06 - 03:44 PM (#1920717) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Don Firth Valley of Fear? Yeah, I think that's it. Well, I did catche the culprit. I just that I'm not sure which window he crawled in through. I don't know where my wife put our copy, and she's not here right now. Don Firth |
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28 Dec 06 - 04:06 PM (#1920738) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: freda underhill who said: Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction. ? |
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28 Dec 06 - 04:08 PM (#1920739) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Slag Another touch of genius! Of which the soul of is brevity! In short, I don't know! |
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28 Dec 06 - 05:04 PM (#1920785) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: John O'L Bill D? |
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28 Dec 06 - 07:30 PM (#1920889) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Stilly River Sage Excellent guess! |
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28 Dec 06 - 07:41 PM (#1920898) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: kendall I've used that quote countless times and never knew where it came from. Thanks. |
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28 Dec 06 - 07:48 PM (#1920906) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Jeri How about (and everyone probably knows this): "He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself". |
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28 Dec 06 - 10:01 PM (#1920999) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: katlaughing Thomas Paine? |
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28 Dec 06 - 10:20 PM (#1921014) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: freda underhill nope :-) |
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28 Dec 06 - 10:24 PM (#1921017) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: GUEST Sir Conan the Barbarian? |
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28 Dec 06 - 10:33 PM (#1921021) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: GUEST Pat Croce? |
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28 Dec 06 - 10:35 PM (#1921022) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: freda underhill cold |
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29 Dec 06 - 12:57 AM (#1921090) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Janie Yep. Thomas Paine. (I cheated and googled it.) Janie |
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29 Dec 06 - 01:48 AM (#1921111) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Slag Yes. THE VALLEY OF FEAR. Alec MacDonald was the referent. the entire sentence reads "Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius, and MacDonald had talent enough for his profession to enable him to percieve that there was no humiliation in seeking the assistance of one who already stood alone in Europe, both in his gifts and in his experience." I've often reflected on that quotation and it has inspired me to seek the original thought. Not an easy thing to do. There is an old dictim in the game of Chess: If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit. There is a lot of BS in our world today (and in this section of the web site! [ to which I have made my share of contributions!]). I keep looking for the brilliance and hope I have enough talent to recognize it when it comes along. |
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29 Dec 06 - 06:24 AM (#1921180) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: freda underhill Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction. -- Albert Einstein |
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29 Dec 06 - 09:17 AM (#1921273) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Slag Ah, the man who said "God does not roll dice!" |
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29 Dec 06 - 09:33 AM (#1921277) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Jeri Kat (and Googlin' Janie) got it: Thomas Paine. Slag, I do believe that's a misquote, or an incomplete one. Somewhere, there was a thread about religion and Einstein... Sorry, Freda - I didn't know yours was still going. There is some sort of cultural norm that says that the more complex something is, the more intelligence must be behind it. I think of those who write convoluted, puffed up garbage, put computers to control the automatic you-name-it in cars, or perhaps play synthesizers. Some of these things are fun, but they're usually not too useful and often obscure the main point. This is probably what, in a lot of cases, these things are supposed to do. They're camouflage to hide some simple thing underneath, and make it look more important than all the other simple things. I like to look for the kernal at the center of all the fluff. Sometimes, the fluff is nice, but mostly it comes off as a desperate attempt to tart up the insignificant. |
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29 Dec 06 - 09:41 AM (#1921285) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Jeri Ok - the rolling-dice comment was about how Einstein thought quantum theory was crap. (My paraphrasing, of course.) |
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29 Dec 06 - 09:43 AM (#1921286) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Slag That's not an exact quote. Words to that effect concerning the Heisenberg "Uncertainty Principle", I think. DON'T quote me! I'll look it up a little later! |
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29 Dec 06 - 03:42 PM (#1921497) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Bill Hahn//\\ How about this now: Who said---"He is modest and has much to be modest about?" No Googling---right? Bill Hahn |
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29 Dec 06 - 03:45 PM (#1921502) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Amos "God does not play dice with the Universe". A |
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29 Dec 06 - 05:43 PM (#1921637) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Slag Blessings on your Soma, Amos! |
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29 Dec 06 - 07:20 PM (#1921696) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: dick greenhaus The modesty quote was Winston Churchill. What I can't recall is who said: "The problem with a friend who whill stand by you through trobles is that you're not likely to enjoy his company unless you're in deep shit." |
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29 Dec 06 - 07:43 PM (#1921729) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: freda underhill Jeri i call it windybaggery (those sackville-baggins were big on it). it's like overdressing - the verbal equivalent of a tuxedo at a picnic. freda |
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29 Dec 06 - 11:28 PM (#1921868) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Slag One of Winnie's quotes was, "There, but for the grace of God, goes God!" but I can't remember to whom he was refering? |
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29 Dec 06 - 11:37 PM (#1921872) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Cluin "It has always seemed strange to me... The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first, they love the produce of the second." |
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29 Dec 06 - 11:40 PM (#1921874) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: GUEST Arnold Schwarzenegger? |
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30 Dec 06 - 03:33 AM (#1921950) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Slag Alice...? |
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30 Dec 06 - 01:35 PM (#1922340) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: alanabit Churchill's quote was about Clement Atlee. Good loser, wasn't he? |
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30 Dec 06 - 04:07 PM (#1922484) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Slag Yes, that's it! Seems SOMEONE had an ego problem! |
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02 Jan 07 - 05:10 PM (#1925079) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Cluin Okay, okay. It was Steinbeck in Cannery Row. |
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05 Jan 07 - 09:44 AM (#1927321) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: An Buachaill Caol Dubh How about this one, then: who first said, "Talent does what it can; genius does what it must"? And who - it may have been the same person - used it as an epigraph to a publication? |
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05 Jan 07 - 09:56 AM (#1927329) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Midchuck There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats. Peter. |
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05 Jan 07 - 10:42 AM (#1927361) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Sorcha Peter...Einstein? (sp?) |
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05 Jan 07 - 11:45 AM (#1927414) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Sorcha Crap. I got the Albert part right. My wee grey cells have lost once again. |
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05 Jan 07 - 11:51 AM (#1927424) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Amos Actually, Jeri, I am inclined (despite my florid language) to believe that the simpler something is the more intelligence must be behind it. In the theory of complex systems one of the major breakthroughs was the discovery that in all sorts of complex systems. the apparent complexity can be boiled down to a small number of simple rules, plus a large numbers of transactions or instances based on those rules. Seeing through the wide array of symptomatic results to the underlying simplicity of basic causes is a mark of brilliance, IMHO. A |
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05 Jan 07 - 11:52 AM (#1927426) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: GUEST,Captain Ginger OK, starter for 10: Riverrun, past Eve and Adam... (1 mark) Of course, Google will allow you to cheat But how does it relate to A way a lone a last a loved a long the ? (3 marks) And of what is the vicus of circulation (3 marks) And what about the apostrophe (where we get musical)? (5 marks) |
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05 Jan 07 - 11:19 PM (#1927935) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Cluin James Joyce, the first (and last) line in "Finnegan's Wake" of course. |
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05 Jan 07 - 11:22 PM (#1927936) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Cluin And that's what I like about the Howth. |
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05 Jan 07 - 11:42 PM (#1927945) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Cluin "We-ll," he said, "she's a long time since I made my last speech, but there's one thing I never forgit." "What, Jake?" "You gotta teeter. If she's gonna be a good speech, why you gotta teeter. A feller might get by without fiddlin' with his watch fob, but not without teeterin'..." |
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06 Jan 07 - 02:42 AM (#1928001) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Slag "One cat is a pet. Two cats raise concerns. Three cats or more are symptomatic." Who said that? |
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06 Jan 07 - 03:24 AM (#1928008) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Captain Ginger Well done Cluin - that's four marks. But I see you've already blown your chances on the five-mark question! |
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06 Jan 07 - 05:32 AM (#1928048) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Cluin Oh yeah, I did. Brain fart, I guess. Mind in the commode. Any chance of recirculation? How many Finnegans at that Wake anyway? |
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06 Jan 07 - 05:50 AM (#1928058) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Captain Ginger You're not alone - most newspaper sub-editors instinctively bung an apostrophe in there. Full marks then, with the commode to boot. |
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06 Jan 07 - 01:41 PM (#1928410) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: autolycus An Buachaill - very interesting. Won't give the answer yet 'cos I looked it up - not on the net but in a book, where the two phrases are the other way round. But 19th century yes? Ivor |
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06 Jan 07 - 01:43 PM (#1928411) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: autolycus Who did not say, "I may not agree with what you say but I will dwefend to thwe death your right to say it"? Ivor |
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06 Jan 07 - 01:56 PM (#1928426) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Slag Elmer Fudd??? |
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07 Jan 07 - 05:58 AM (#1928984) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Big Al Whittle Bugs Bunny...? |
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07 Jan 07 - 12:00 PM (#1929215) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: autolycus That's amazing. Nope. Ivor |
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08 Jan 07 - 07:34 AM (#1930063) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: polaitaly Voltaire paola |
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08 Jan 07 - 10:52 AM (#1930242) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Flash Company I think the Churchill 'modest little man' quote linked in with another one, 'He likes to be called Clem. I don't think I have to tell the constituents of Oldham what clem means!' FC |
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08 Jan 07 - 03:31 PM (#1930545) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: autolycus Correct,polaitaly. Ivor |
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08 Jan 07 - 03:33 PM (#1930549) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: autolycus I mean, correct,polaitaly He didn't. Ivor |
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08 Jan 07 - 03:34 PM (#1930552) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Cluin Actually, just about everybody since Voltaire. |
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08 Jan 07 - 04:35 PM (#1930619) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Captain Ginger The phrase is widely attributed to Voltaire, but was in fact coined by a biographer as a representing a distillation of Voltaire's views. It was first used in The Friends of Voltaire, written in 1906 by Evelyn Beatrice Hall. Hall said that she had been trying to paraphrase Voltaire's words in his Essay on Tolerance: "Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too." |
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08 Jan 07 - 08:11 PM (#1930882) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Big Al Whittle Good old Evelyn, nice girl... terrific bum on her, always made me laugh... |
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08 Jan 07 - 09:59 PM (#1930966) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Fergie Eh! would that be commodious vicous Captain Ginger? Or some Anna Livia aswimming in the snot green sea? |
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09 Jan 07 - 02:59 AM (#1931128) Subject: RE: BS: Name the Author From: Captain Ginger It would indeed be commodious, as hinted at by Cluin above. And the circularity is apparent in that the last line of the Wake runs seemlessly into the first, as Anna Livia dies and is carried out to sea to become, again, her source in an endless cycle of birth and death: ...A way a lone a last a loved a long the riverrun, past Eve and Adam... Interestingly Joyce was a fine singer with a much-admired tenor voice, and much of his work sits easier on the ear than on the eye; for me the Wake is a book that is best read aloud to appreciate its rollicking musicality, with the abstruse literary puns and allusions left to be picked over after the meal, as it were. The same applies to many passages in Ulysses, and to some in Dubliners and Portrait - he was clearly a man with a marvellous ear for words. Populists claim that Shakespeare, were he living today, would be writing scripts for soap operas (which, incidentally, is arrant nonsense), but I like to think JJ would make a darned sight finer lyricist than many contemporary snigger snogwriters. But enough - it's time for breakfast. |