WIST Quotations

Levine, Emily -- “A Theory of Everything,” TED Talk, Monterey, California (Feb 2002)

Dave — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 21:23:54 +0000

When you’re surrounded by people who share the same set of assumptions as you, you start to think that’s reality.

Emily Levine (1944-2019) American humorist, writer, actress, speaker
“A Theory of Everything,” TED Talk, Monterey, California (Feb 2002)
(Source)

Goodman, George -- Supermoney, Part 3, ch. 2 (1972)

Dave — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 17:18:47 +0000

We are all at a wonderful ball where the champagne sparkles in every glass and soft laughter falls upon the summer air. We know, by the rules, that at some moment the Black Horsemen will come shattering through the great terrace doors, wreaking vengeance and scattering the survivors. Those who leave early are saved, but the ball is so splendid no one wants to leave while there is still time, so that everyone keeps asking, “What time is it? What time is it?” but none of the clocks have any hands.

George Goodman (1930-2014) American author, economics broadcast commentator [pseud. Adam Smith]
Supermoney, Part 3, ch. 2 (1972)
(Source)

An explanation he gave to a "mass-circulation magazine" about the stock bubble in 1968. He later incorporated a variation of the story in a republication of his 1968 The Money Game:

We are all at a wonderful party, and by the rules of the game we know that at some point in time the Black Horsemen will burst through the great terrace doors to cut down the revelers; those who leave early may be saved, but the music and wines are so seductive that we do not want to leave, but we do ask, "What time is it? What time is it?" Only none of the clocks have any hands.

Newton, Isaac -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 22:21:04 +0000

I can calculate the movement of the stars, but not the madness of the people.

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) English physicist and mathematician
(Attributed)
(Source)

Supposedly after the ruinous stock price collapse of the "South Sea Bubble" in 1720, in which Newton lost £20,000.

The earliest mention of this is found in Joseph Spence, Second Memorandum Book (1756), collected in Joseph Spence (ed. Samuel Weller Singer), Anecdotes, Observations, and Characters, of Books and Men (1820). There a Lord Radnor is quoted as saying: "When Sir Isaac Newton was asked about the continuance of the rising of South Sea stock? — He answered, 'that he could not calculate the madness of the people.'" (Note that this supposedly takes place before the bubble bursts.)

Variants:

I can calculate the motions of erratic bodies, but not the madness of a multitude. ["Mammon and the Money Market," The Church of England Quarterly Review (1850)]
I can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.
I can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies but not the madness of men.
I can calculate the movement of stars, but not the madness of men.

Boulding, Kenneth Ewart -- Hearings on the Energy Reorganization Act (HR 11510), US House of Representatives (1973)

Dave — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 14:08:49 +0000

Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.

Kenneth Ewart Boulding (1910-1993) American economist, educator, poet, philosopher
Hearings on the Energy Reorganization Act (HR 11510), US House of Representatives (1973)