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

Mon Dec 3 16:04:28 UTC 2012

Thanks to all the respondents here, and to Barry Popik who replied
off-list. The over-long entry has been updated with additional
minutiae.
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/06/05/dance-insane/

On Sun, Dec 2, 2012 at 8:14 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Quote: Those who dance are considered insane by those who
>               can't hear the music
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Dec 2, 2012, at 3:54 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>> Deaf people don't think dancers are insane.
>>
>> So the proverb should read "by a certain percentage of those who could
>> not..."
>>
>> JL
>
> Or perhaps "Those who were seen dancing were thought mad by those who could not hear the music but would have heard it had they been close enough to hear it with no heavy doors blocking out the music and by those who were deaf and could not feel the vibrations".  Memorable in its own way.
>
> LH
>
>
>>
>> On Sun, Dec 2, 2012 at 3:15 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com
>>> wrote:
>>
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>>> 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:
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>>> -----------------------
>>>> 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:
>>>>
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>>>>> -----------------------
>>>>> 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
>>>>>>
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>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>>> truth."
>>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>
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