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

[Garson O'Toole]

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:
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> 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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