It Has Been Said

IT HAS BEEN SAID and collected by BRIAN LENTLE* "The book of nature is that which the physician must read and to do so he must walk over the leaves."—Paracelsus "There is more to life than increasing its speed."—Gandhi "Once you put that book down you can't pick it up."—Groucho Marx "Je n'ait fait celle-ci plus longue que parcequeje n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte." [I have made this letter longer than usual, because I lack the time to make it short]—Pascal "L'Art c'est moi, la Science c'est nous."—Claud Bernard An aphorism for writers of television scripts: "We don't want it good, we want it Tuesday."—Dennis Norden Notes on the composition of scientific papers: "Force, lucidity, unity, simplicity, economy ofexpression are virtues which we may all obtain: Originality will be as God pleases."—Sir T. Clifford Allbutt "What I aspired to be And was not, comforts me."—Robert Browning "There was a young lady named Bright Whose speed was far faster than light; She set out one day In a relative way And returned on the previous night."—A. H. Reginald Butler Material appearing under this title is collected with the aim of making the serious a bit less serious, the ponderous a bit less heavy, and the reading hours a bit more fun. Toward this goal we invite a guest editor of this feature for each issue. Will readers volunteer to share their senses of humor by collecting or recollecting items that have brought smiles to their faces? We invite your participation. *Cross Cancer Institute, 11560 University Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 1Z2. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 28, 2 · Winter 1985 | 323 "So few of us seem to realize that pleasure is not the same as happiness."— Gilbert Highet "I do no>. believe in an afterlife, although I am bringing a change of underwear ."—Woody Allen "Life is carcinogenic."—Dr. Abdul Khaliq "Physician: One upon whom we set our hopes when ill, and our dogs when well."—Ambrose Bierce "Everybody thinks ofchanging humanity but nobody thinks of changing himself ."—Leo Tolstoy "As a rule disease as it stalks through the land cannot keep pace with the incurable vice of scribbling about it."—John Mayour "De Rachitide"(1668) "There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval."—George Santayana "My faith in doctors is immense. Just one thing spoils it: their pretence of authorized omniscience."—Piet Hein "Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer."—Charles Kaleb Colton "Humour is that magnificent discovery of those who are cut short in their calling to highest endeavour."—Heinrich Hesse "Art is long, and grants are but yearly."—Robertson Davies "I wish to protest most strongly about everything."—"Henry Root" "I hate abroad."—George V "It is difficult to make predictions—particularly about the future."— Confucius "Words should not be born of affectation."—Frangcon Roberts "If the Lord Almighty had consulted me before embarking on the creation I would have recommended something simpler."—Alfonso X of Castile ". . . Men arejudged according to what follows after them, whereas they act in accordance with what has come before."—Antonia Fraser 324 I Brian Lentie · It Has Been Said "I always use the newest medicines quickly before their effectiveness runs out."—Sir William Osler "Being human involves becoming a burden."—Roy Bonisteel "I hold this to be the highest task in a bond between two people: that each should protect the privacy of the other."—Rainer Marie Rilke "I hate quotations."—Ralph Waldo Emerson THE LAMENT OF THE ALGAL GENETICIST Studying dinoflagellate mitosis Will virtually guarantee neurosis: Chromatin's condensed permanently So there's no feature to see— And there's been no report of meiosis! Kathleen H. Keeler Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 28, 2 · Winter 1985 | 325 ...