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Wrong
Birch Cane
President Calvin Coolidge didn’t like to attend dinners, but he was prevailed upon to attend one function at which he was to be presented with a cane.
The man making the presentation went on at great length and finished up by saying, “The mahogany from which this cane is fashioned is as solid as the rock-bound coast of Maine, as beautiful as the sun-kissed shores of California!”
Mr. Coolidge accepted the cane, posed for a picture, then stood there for a few moments, staring at the cane. The audience sat hushed. Finally, the President spoke.
“Birch,” he said, and sat down.
Bits & Pieces, January 5, 1995, (NJ: The Economics Press, Inc.), pp. 1-2
Quote
- “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” Lord Kelvin, President Royal Society
- “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Charles H. Duell, Director of U.S. Patent Office, 1899
- “Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote.” Grover Cleveland, 1905
- “There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.” Robert Milikan, Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1923
- “Who the heck wants to hear actors talk?” Harry M. Warner, Warner Bros. Pictures, 1927.
- Theoretically, television may be feasible, but I consider it an impossibility—a development which we should waste little time dreaming about. Lee de Forest, 1926, inventor of the cathode ray tube.
- I think there is a world market for about five computers. Thomas J. Watson, 1943, Chairman of the Board of IBM
- We don’t think the Beatles will do anything in their market. Guitar groups are on their way out. Recording company expert, 1962
Bits & Pieces, March 30, 1995, pp. 9-10
Bishop Wright Was Wrong
A bishop of a century ago pronounced from his pulpit and in the periodical he edited that heavier-than-air flight was both impossible and contrary to the will of God. Oh, the irony that Bishop Wright had two sons, Orville and Wilbur! Wright was wrong. Sure of himself, but wrong.
Winning the New Civil War, Robert P. Dugan, Jr., p. 38
Ted Koppel
Said ABC Nightline’s Ted Koppel one night:
“We have actually convinced ourselves that slogans will save us. ‘Shoot up if you must, but use a clean needle.’ or, ‘Enjoy sex whenever and with whomever you wish, but protect yourself.’
“No! The answer is no! Not because it isn’t cool or smart or because you might wind up in jail or dying in the AIDS ward, but because it’s wrong!
“What Moses brought down from Mount Sinai were not the Ten Suggestions, but the Ten Commandments!”
Bits & Pieces, April 30, 1992
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