“That is another of your odd notions," said the Prefect, who had a fashion of calling every thing "odd" that was beyond his comprehension, and thus lived amid an absolute legion of "oddities.”
“As a poet and as a mathematician, he would reason well; as a mere mathematician, he could not have reasoned at all.”
“We gave him a hearty welcome, for there was nearly half as much of the entertaining as of the contemptible about the man..”
“The principle of vis inertiae (...) seems to be identical in physics and metaphysics. It is not more true in the former, that a large body is with more difficulty set in motion than a smaller one, and that its subsequent momentum is commensurate with this difficulty, than it is, in the latter, that intellects of the vaster capacity, while more forcible, more constant, and more eventful in their movements than those of inferior grade, are yet the less readily moved, and more embarrassed, and full of hesitation in the first few steps of their progress”
“Not altogether a fool," said G., "but then he's a poet, which I take to be only one remove from a fool."
"True," said Dupin, after a long and thoughtful whiff from his meerschaum, "although I have been guilty of certain doggerel myself.”
“Ha! ha! ha! -- ha! ha! ha! -- ho! ho! ho!”
“In short, I never yet encountered the mere mathematician who could be trusted out of equal roots, or one who did not clandestinely hold it as a point of his faith that x squared + px was absolutely and unconditionally equal to q. Say to one of these gentlemen, by way of experiment, if you please, that you believe occasions may occur where x squared + px is not altogether equal to q, and, having made him understand what you mean, get out of his reach as speedily as convenient, for, beyond doubt, he will endeavor to knock you down.”
“And it is only after seeing man as his unconscious, revealed by his dreams, presents him to us that we shall understand him fully. For as Freud said to Putnam: "We are what we are because we have been what we have been.”
“I'm getting the impression that women, in any form, scare you."
He shrugged. "They're the more violent species. And unpredictable. I'd rather take on a wild boar. You can't shoot women.”
“Suntem norocosi, noi suntem cei care vom muri. Cei mai multi oameni nu vor muri niciodata pentru ca ei nu se vor naste niciodata. Numarul de oameni potentiali care s-ar fi putut afla aici in locul meu, dar care de fapt nu vor vedea niciodata lumina zilei, depaseste firele de nisip din Peninsula Arabica. Cu siguranta, printre aceste fantome nenascute se afla poeti mai mari decat Keats, oameni de stiinta mai mari decat Newton. Stim acest lucru pentru ca numarul de oameni posibili in urma combinarii ADN-ului nostru depaseste cu mult numarul actual de persoane. In ciuda acestei realitati stupefiante, tu si eu, absolut obisnuiti, suntem aici.”
“Lincoln has become so addicted to the telegraph’s instant news from the front that he still can’t let go of the need for just one more bit of information, even though the prospect of another great battle is slim.”
“Only one mountain can know the core of another mountain.”
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