Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by George S. Kaufman

Quote by George S. Kaufman

“(Popular singer Eddie Fisher, appearing on This is Show Business, told Kaufman that women refused to date him because he looked so young.) Mr. Fisher, on Mount Wilson there is a telescope that can magnify the most distant stars up to twenty-four times the magnification of any previous telescope. This remarkable instrument was unsurpassed in the world of astronomy until the construction of the Mount Palomar telescope, an even more remarkable instrument of magnification. Owing to advances and improvements in optical technology, it is capable of magnifying the stars to four times the magnification and resolution of the Mount Wilson telescope - Mr. Fisher, if you could somehow put the Mount Wilson telescope inside the Mount Palomar telescope, you still wouldn't be able to detect my interest in your problem.”

Quote by George S. Kaufman

Author

George S. Kaufman
George S. Kaufman

George S. Kaufman was an American playwright, born on November 16, 1889, and died on June 2, 1961. He is renowned for his witty and humorous plays, and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in American theater during the 20th century. more

You May Also Like

“We would routinely be exposed to the sunset as we were waiting to open up the telescopes for nighttime viewing atop the very high altitude Mauna Kea mountain in Hawaii, USA. That would be followed by exposure to bright industrial LASER light during the night. It was around this time that I started suffering with chronic fatigue and mental confusion. I had these exposures in my mid thirties and by my mid forties I was seeing rainbow halos around bright nighttime lights and my mental and physical health mysteriously collapsed.”

“Dinner on Kitt Peak wrapped up in time for everyone to head outside and watch the sunset together before scattering to the telescope, a time-honored tradition of astronomers everywhere. If asked, we would all supply some good practical scientific reasoning behind the habit - you get a glimpse of what sort of night it's going to be, a sense of upcoming weather, the sky quality, and so on - but the basic reason remains that it's simply beautiful. Standing on a remote mountain with the earth stretching out into the distance and slowly spinning away from our nearest star, it's a wonderful quiet moment to enjoy the vastness and stillness and colors as the night begins. On any given evening, I can promise you that scattered across the planet are a few small groups of astronomers, standing on dome catwalks or dining hall patios or even just a stretch of hard-packed earth and pausing in their work for a few moments to admire the simple beauty of the sky.”

“As usual, Terpsichore, whom the girls called Ree, could not keep still. She twisted back and forth, moving her arms as if they were blowing in the wind. Mnemosyne's fierce little dancer had learned to perform before she learned to walk and had gracefully glided through life ever since. Terpsichore's energy and enthusiasm annoyed her sisters, but where was the fun in creating a family that always got along?”