4 ms·

i don't know if you know, but there is a great quote concerning at least a partial aspect of the argument: The greater danger for most of us is not that our ai

by sb 17y ago

i don't know if you know, but there is a great quote concerning at least a partial aspect of the argument: The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. --michelangelo

gruseom 17y ago
I have a pet interest in cuckoo quotes: lines that sound good that get falsely attributed to a famous person. (For example, http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=678282 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=678282) As an experiment, I'm going to say that this sounds like one of those to me. It feels too much like a modern species, not something from the Renaissance. Now I'm going to go check and report back. :) Edit: here's what I found. Wikiquote lists it as "unsourced". Google Books shows the phrase as appearing in a few dozen recent inspirational and self-help books (Marry Your Baby Daddy, anyone?), but no scholarly or historical ones (http://books.google.com/books?q=%22greater+danger+for+most+of+us%22&btnG=Search+Books http://books.google.com/books?q=%22greater+danger+for+most+o...). Google web search comes up only with reams of those awful junky quotation sites. It's possible that the wording is a modern translation of an authentic quote, but in general, if 5-10 minutes of Googling doesn't come up with an original source for a famous quote by a famous genius, the odds are against it. It's still a great line.
- sb 17y ago
  hi there, thanks for all the work; i came across the quote a couple of years ago (i believe google was not even "big" then) and never bothered to check back (for this post i just googled and found a couple of attributes, just for reassurance--obviously i should have been more careful) nevertheless, i think it's a great quote, too. (i find myself citing it from time to time, about twice a year or so...) ps: i know a couple of italians, probably they will be able to clarify on etymological issues...

by sb 17y ago

gruseom 17y ago

I have a pet interest in cuckoo quotes: lines that sound good that get falsely attributed to a famous person. (For example, http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=678282 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=678282) As an experiment, I'm going to say that this sounds like one of those to me. It feels too much like a modern species, not something from the Renaissance. Now I'm going to go check and report back. :) Edit: here's what I found. Wikiquote lists it as "unsourced". Google Books shows the phrase as appearing in a few dozen recent inspirational and self-help books (Marry Your Baby Daddy, anyone?), but no scholarly or historical ones (http://books.google.com/books?q=%22greater+danger+for+most+of+us%22&btnG=Search+Books http://books.google.com/books?q=%22greater+danger+for+most+o...). Google web search comes up only with reams of those awful junky quotation sites. It's possible that the wording is a modern translation of an authentic quote, but in general, if 5-10 minutes of Googling doesn't come up with an original source for a famous quote by a famous genius, the odds are against it. It's still a great line.

sb 17y ago
hi there, thanks for all the work; i came across the quote a couple of years ago (i believe google was not even "big" then) and never bothered to check back (for this post i just googled and found a couple of attributes, just for reassurance--obviously i should have been more careful) nevertheless, i think it's a great quote, too. (i find myself citing it from time to time, about twice a year or so...) ps: i know a couple of italians, probably they will be able to clarify on etymological issues...