Arthur C. Clarke? Isaac Asimov? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke believed that proclamations of impossibility were too readily dispensed by blinkered elderly scientists. Would you please help me to find a citation for Clarke’s First Law? Quote Investigator: In 1962 Arthur C. Clarke published a forward-looking book filled …
Category Archives: Isaac Newton
Tact Is the Knack of Making a Point Without Making an Enemy
Isaac Newton? Howard W. Newton? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The brilliant physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton supposedly coined the following expression: Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy. A variant of this statement uses “knack” instead of “art”. Interestingly, Isaac Newton made some powerful enemies during his lifetime. Do you …
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