Home / Quotes / Quote by Richard Ford

Quote by Richard Ford

“Then, what's the matter?' I wonder, in fact, how many times I have said that or something equal to it to a woman passing palely through my life. What're you thinking? What's made you so quiet? You seem suddenly different. What's the matter? Love me is what this means, of course. Or at least, second best: surrender. Or at the very least, take some time regaling me with why you won't, and maybe by the end you will.”

Book:The Sportswriter

Work

The Sportswriter

The Sportswriter is a poignant narrative that delves into the life of a seasoned sportswriter, examining his career and personal life with a keen eye for detail. The story follows the protagonist as he navigates the complexities of his profession and the emotional turmoil that accompanies it. more

Author

Richard Ford

Richard Ford, born on February 16, 1944, is a renowned American novelist. His works are known for their delicate emotional descriptions and profound thematic explorations, with notable titles such as 'Independence Day' and 'The Lay of the Land'. more

“For many years I have been saying that I would like to write a book (or series of books) called Physics for Mathematicians. Whenever I would tell people that, they would say, “Oh good, you're going to explain quantum mechanics, or string theory, or something like that”. And I would say, “Well that would be nice, but I can't begin to do that now; first I have to learn elementary physics, so the first thing I will be writing will be Mechanics for Mathematicians”. So then people would say, “Ah, so you're going to be writing about symplectic structures”, or something of that sort. And I would have to say, “No, I'm not trying to write a book about mathematics for mathematicians, I'm trying to write a book about physics for mathematicians”; …… it's elementary mechanics that I don't understand. … I mean, for example, that I don't understand this – lever. ... Most of us know the law of the lever, but this law is simply a quantitative statement of exactly how amazing the lever is, and doesn't give us a clue as to why it is true, how such a small force at one end can exert such a great force at the other. Now physicists all agree that Newton's Three Laws are the basis from which all of mechanics follows, but if you ask for an explanation of the lever in terms of these three laws, you will almost certainly not get a satisfactory answer.”

Science Physics Rigidity Lever Moment Of Force

Author:Michael Spivak

“National identity acts as a consumer lever to manipulate the emotions of the masses, for the purposes of power regulation and the fulfillment of agenda”

Power Masses Agenda National Identity Lever

Book:Voice of Reason

Source: Voice of Reason

“... who can forget the amazement of a child balancing an adult on a see-saw, simply by being placed at the right position. How could this be? Where did all that extra force come from!? The only wonder nowadays is that a physics student is unlikely to produce a satisfactory answer to this question. Perhaps we will be offered a few mumblings about moments, force times distance, laws of the lever perhaps even the "principle of virtual work". But we probably won't get an answer that seems to explain where that extra force comes from; and it is highly unlikely that we will get an answer that begins by establishing principles about rigid bodies, even though the rigidity of the lever is an absolute necessity for it to work. In fact, the whole path from Newton's Laws, which basically concern "point masses", to bodies whose shape and extent are significant, is often rather dubiously traversed, even though elementary physics courses blithely pose such problems of the most diverse sorts.”

Science Physics Rigidity Lever Moment Of Force

Book:Physics for Mathematicians: Mechanics I

Source: Physics for Mathematicians: Mechanics I

“Given the right lever you can move a planet.”