[time-nuts] Rock, gas, and air
James R Miller
james at jrmiller.demon.co.uk
Mon Mar 1 15:13:05 UTC 2010
On 1 Mar it was written:
> Rock I take to be crystal. How about gas and air?
Which, improbably, brings us back to a thread of January 11th where
JDB wrote:
In protocol design, perfection has been reached not when there is
nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
-- RFC 1925, "Fundamental Truths of Networking"
which prompted Jerry S. to rejoin:
The actual quote is:
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but
when there is nothing left to take away.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
French writer (1900 - 1944)
The original quotation, from the book "Terre des hommes", is:
Il semble que la perfection soit atteinte non quand il n'y a plus rien à
ajouter, mais quand il n'y a plus rien à retrancher.
The English edition (ISBN 0-15-697090-2 page 46) of the book has the awkward:
In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no
longer anything to add but when there is no longer anything to take away,
when a body has been stripped down to its nakedness.
And the English edition is entitled "Wind, Sand and Stars" ... not quite
rock, gas and air, but close '-%
[If anybody wants mine (f.o.c), drop me your address].
--
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James R Miller
Cambridge, England
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