Quote: Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music

Sun Dec 2 20:54:13 UTC 2012

Deaf people don't think dancers are insane.

So the proverb should read "by a certain percentage of those who could
not..."

JL

On Sun, Dec 2, 2012 at 3:15 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com
> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Quote: Those who dance are considered insane by those who
>               can't hear the music
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Update: The following saying is popularly credited to Friedrich
> Nietzsche though I have been unable to substantiate the linkage:
>
> And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who
> could not hear the music.
>
> This concept was used to provide the framework of a simile in 1813 by
> the author Anne Louise Germaine de Staël. Other authors used this
> trope in the 1800s, and several cites are given here:
>
> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/06/05/dance-insane/
>
> This update is about an alternative phrasing of the expression using
> the word "mad" instead of "insane". Here is an instance published in
> 1927 in "The Times" of London:
>
> [Begin ref] 1927 February 16, The Times (UK), The Dance, Page 15,
> Column 4, London, England. (Times Digital Archive GaleGroup) [End ref]
> [Begin excerpt]
> They who dance are thought mad by those who hear not the music. The
> truth of the old proverb was never more surely borne out that it is
> just now.
> [End excerpt]
>
> In 1929 the expression was listed in the reference: "English Proverbs
> and Proverbial Phrases: A Historical Dictionary". The citation given
> was to the 1927 newspaper instance which was presented immediately
> above:
>
> [Begin ref] 1929, English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases: A
> Historical Dictionary, Editor G. L. Apperson, Quote Page 133 and 134,
> J. M. Dent and Sons, London. (Questia) [End ref]
> [Begin excerpt]
> They who dance are thought mad by those who hear not the music.
> Spoken of as an "old proverb." 1927: Times, 16 Feb., p. 15, col. 4.
> [End excerpt]
>
> In 2002 the reference "Thesaurus of Traditional English Metaphor" from
> Routledge included a version of the adage and assigned it the
> remarkably early date of 1575. A precise citation to support this date
> was not given, and I have so far been unable to locate a sixteenth
> century work containing the saying:
>
> [Begin ref] 2002, Thesaurus of Traditional English Metaphor, Editor P.
> R. Wilkinson [Peter Richard Wilkinson], 2nd Edition, Section: K.9b
> Dancing and music, Page 897, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London
> and New York. (Google Books Preview) [End ref]
> [Begin excerpt]
> they who dance are thought mad by those who hear not the music [1575]
> Said when someone’s motivation is not appreciated; we should not judge
> others without knowing all the facts.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 1:57 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Quote: Those who dance are considered insane by those
> who
> >               can't hear the music
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Nowadays I usually consider those who dance to be insane because I do
> hear
> > the music.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 1:50 PM, Garson O'Toole <
> adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:
> >
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> >> Subject:      Re: Quote: Those who dance are considered insane by those
> who
> >>               can't hear the music
> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> The idea goes back to at least 1814. The post on the QI website is
> >> undergoing modifications and is not visible.
> >>
> >> On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 12:47 PM, Garson O'Toole
> >> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> > Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> >> > Subject:      Quote: Those who dance are considered insane by those
> who
> >> can't
> >> >              hear the music
> >> >
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> >
> >> > The following statement is often credited to the philosopher Friedrich
> >> > Nietzsche:
> >> >
> >> > And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who
> >> > could not hear the music.
> >> >
> >> > Megan Fox has a tattoo of this expression. I haven't located any
> >> > substantive evidence that Nietzsche wrote or said this. Maybe a list
> >> > member can find something.
> >> >
> >> > A very different philosopher is associated with the earliest
> >> > appearance of the idea. In 1997 the comedian George Carlin published
> >> > "Brain Droppings", and it included the following remark [GCBD]:
> >> >
> >> > [Begin excerpt]
> >> > Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the
> music.
> >> > [End excerpt]
> >> >
> >> > [GCBD] 1997, Brain Droppings by George Carlin, [Freestanding remark],
> >> > Page 74, Hyperion, New York. (Verified on paper)
> >> >
> >> > More on this topic is available here:
> >> >
> >> > http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/06/05/dance-insane/
> >> >
> >> > Thanks for any help you can provide
> >> > Garson
> >> >
> >> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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