When I hear scientists say, “The data speak for themselves,” I cringe. Data never speak.
Andrew J. Hoffman (b. 1961) American environmental scientist, sustainable enterprise scholar
“Taking On Climate Skepticism as a Field of Study,” Interview by Felicity Barringer, New York Times (9 Apr 2011)
(Source)
Quotations about:
obvious
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
Some things are fairly obvious when it’s a seven-foot skeleton with a scythe telling you them.
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Hogfather (1996)
Familiarity breeds contempt, while rarity wins admiration.
[Parit enim conversatio contemptum; raritas conciliat admirationem.]
Apuleius (c. 124 - c. 170 AD) Numidian writer, philosopher, rhetorician [Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis]
On the God of Socrates [De Deo Socratis], ch. 4 [tr. Bohn’s (1853)]
Discussing why the gods do not mingle with humanity. Alt. trans.: The first part of the phrase is also used as the moral in the traditional English translation of Aesop's "The Fox and the Lion."
Khaavren stood. “I will go now.”
“If you don’t mind, I shall await you here.”
“Certainly,” said Khaavren, smiling. “That will make it easier for you to look through my files.”
“Now my friend, have you ever known me to do anything so obvious?”
“Never.” Khaavren stood and strode to the door. “Which is exactly what makes it subtle.”
Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Tiassa (2011)
Fine natures are like fine poems; a glance at the first two lines suffices for a guess into the beauty that waits you, if you read on.
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) English novelist and politician
My Novel, or Varieties in English Life (1853)
If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family Anatidae on our hands.
Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English writer
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (1987)
Like many men of genius, he could not understand why things obvious to him should not be so at once to other people, and found it easier to believe that they were corrupt than that they could be so stupid.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) British playwright and critic
The Apple Cart, Preface (1928)
If the world were clear, art would not exist.
Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright
“Absurd Creation,” The Myth of Sisyphus (1942)
To spell out the obvious is often to call it into question.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 220 (1955)
(Source)
Explanations exist; they have existed for all time; there is always a well-known solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong.
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
“The Divine Afflatus,” New York Evening Mail (16 Nov 1917)
(Source)
Reprinted in Prejudices: Second Series (1920) and A Mencken Chrestomathy, ch. 25 (1949).
Variants:
- "There is always an easy solution to every human problem -- neat, plausible, and wrong."
- "For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong."
