"I remember my friend Johnny von Neumann used to say, 'with four parameters I can fit an elephant and with five I can make him wiggle his trunk.'"

--

Source : Attributed to John von Neumann by Enrico Fermi in "A meeting with Enrico Fermi" by Freeman Dyson in "Nature", Issue 427 (p. 297), www.nature.com. January 22, 2004.

Enrico Fermi

#Elephants Quotes #Four Quotes #Remember Quotes

“I think objectivity is like this strange myth that people think you're supposed to achieve, but actually, the dirty little secret is that it's not attainable any more than pure justice is attainable by the courts.”

Source : "Restrepo co-directors Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington". Interview with Christopher Kompanek, www.avclub.com. June 25, 2010.
“It makes me sad when I see things that are just the same technology; you aren't passing the technology forward.”
“You begin to understand, as a filmmaker, that there are different ways of approaching things. Everything doesn't have to be quick cut, like MTV.”
“Freedom of press is limited to those who own one.”
“I continue to work on plays, but I've always felt that you could put a note in a bottle and send it offshore, and you'd have as much chance communicating with people.”
“You cannot will yourself to be happy while believing that you have no right to happiness, or that you are unworthy of it. You cannot tell yourself to release aggressive thoughts if you think it is wrong to free them, so you must come to grips with your beliefs in all instances.”
“Nature doesn't feel compelled to stick to a mathematically precise algorithm; in fact, nature probably can't stick to an algorithm.”
“Actually, I don't really consider myself either a Liberal or a Conservative. Truth be told, I consider myself a 'Truthetarian.' I try to examine each separate issue and go to where I feel the truth is. And, yes, I must admit that more often than not, when I do this, upon arrival, I do seem to find myself in the company of left-minded people. However, quite often, I'm more than a little surprised to find myself standing in a room full of right-wingers!”

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