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Quote by Sydney Smith

“[T]he 47th proposition in Euclid might now be voted down with as much ease as any proposition in politics; and therefore if Lord Hawkesbury hates the abstract truths of science as much as he hates concrete truth in human affairs, now is his time for getting rid of the multiplication table, and passing a vote of censure upon the pretensions of the hypotenuse.”

Quote by Sydney Smith

Work

The works

This book is a compilation of various literary works, including novels, short stories, essays, and poems, showcasing the author's or authors' diverse range of styles and themes. more

Author

Sydney Smith
Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith was a British writer celebrated for his wit and humor. Born on June 3, 1771, he was a prominent figure in the literary world of his time. His writing spanned various genres, including essays, letters, and poetry. Smith was a regular contributor to The Edinburgh Review and The Edinburgh Magazine, where his insightful and witty prose was highly esteemed. He passed away on February 22, 1845, leaving behind a rich literary legacy. more

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“Lucy, dear child, mind your arithmetic. You know in the first sum of yours I ever saw there was a mistake. You had carried two (as a cab is licensed to do), and you ought, dear Lucy, to have carried but one. Is this a trifle? What would life be without arithmetic, but a scene of horrors.”

“Whereas, to borrow an illustration from mathematics, life was formerly an equation of, say, 100 unknown quantities, it is now one of 99 only, inasmuch as memory and heredity have been shown to be one and the same thing.”

“If one might wish for impossibilities, I might then wish that my children might be well versed in physical science, but in due subordination to the fulness and freshness of their knowledge on moral subjects. ... Rather than have it the principal thing in my son's mind, I would gladly have him think that the sun went round the earth, and that the stars were so many spangles set in the bright blue firmament.”