"Give me where I may stand, and I will raise the world."
Mark Twain, in his typical insufferable hick fashion, had this to say about Archimedes' Lever:
""Give me whereon to stand", said Archimedes, "and I will move the earth." The boast was a pretty safe one, for he knew quite well that the standing place was wanting, and always would be wanting. But suppose he had moved the earth, what then? What benefit would it have been to anybody? The job would never have paid working expenses, let alone dividends, and so what was the use of talking about it? From what astronomers tell us, I should reckon that the earth moved quite fast enough already, and if there happened to be a few cranks who were dissatisfied with its rate of progress, as far as I am concerned, they might push it along for themselves; I would not move a finger or subscribe a penny piece to assist in anything of the kind. "
He wrote it under the pseudonym "Twark Main".
As for myself, I've never quite been able to decide whether I love him or hate him. He's just one of those people who's very clever in a frequently obnoxious sort of way.
""Give me whereon to stand", said Archimedes, "and I will move the earth." The boast was a pretty safe one, for he knew quite well that the standing place was wanting, and always would be wanting. But suppose he had moved the earth, what then? What benefit would it have been to anybody? The job would never have paid working expenses, let alone dividends, and so what was the use of talking about it? From what astronomers tell us, I should reckon that the earth moved quite fast enough already, and if there happened to be a few cranks who were dissatisfied with its rate of progress, as far as I am concerned, they might push it along for themselves; I would not move a finger or subscribe a penny piece to assist in anything of the kind. "
He wrote it under the pseudonym "Twark Main".
As for myself, I've never quite been able to decide whether I love him or hate him. He's just one of those people who's very clever in a frequently obnoxious sort of way.