phil
22-12-2003, 05:59 AM
Nils Bohr said: "The opposite of a true statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may be another profound truth."
Take out the 'true or false' content of his statement and one is left essentially with:
"The opposite of a statement is another statement. But the opposite of a profound is another profound."
An interesting effect can be generated by hypothesising that a 'truth' is a 'true statement' (a philosophical point for another topic perhaps?):
"The opposite of a statement is another statement. But the opposite of a profound statement is another profound statement."
If we also take out the metaphor of 'opposite', we are left with:
"A statement is another statement. But a profound is another profound."
Finally if we replace "But" with "And":
"A statement is another statement. And a profound is another profound."
OR
"A statement is another statement. And a profound statement is another profound statement."
It gets existential quite quickly, doesn't it?
Any other famous quotations we could clean up for fun and profit?
Take out the 'true or false' content of his statement and one is left essentially with:
"The opposite of a statement is another statement. But the opposite of a profound is another profound."
An interesting effect can be generated by hypothesising that a 'truth' is a 'true statement' (a philosophical point for another topic perhaps?):
"The opposite of a statement is another statement. But the opposite of a profound statement is another profound statement."
If we also take out the metaphor of 'opposite', we are left with:
"A statement is another statement. But a profound is another profound."
Finally if we replace "But" with "And":
"A statement is another statement. And a profound is another profound."
OR
"A statement is another statement. And a profound statement is another profound statement."
It gets existential quite quickly, doesn't it?
Any other famous quotations we could clean up for fun and profit?