Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Is a punched-up version really a misquote? He said basically the same thing, just in a more meandering way.


Agreed, I think there's a culture of overzealous "correction" with respect to historical quotations. It's not completely irrelevant that it's a conversation with an oracle or that his attitude was puzzlement in response to being regarded wisest, as contrasted with him just declaring it unprovoked.

But still, they are expressions of intellectual humility that come from not knowing and contrasting it to the attitude of claiming to know without really knowing, that essence is the same even with the "correction" and complements Asimov's essay either way. So I think "misquote" is a little strong here.




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: