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

[Jonathan Lighter]

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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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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