cga2000 wrote:
On Mon, Feb 26, 2007 at 08:47:00PM EST, A.J.Mechelynck wrote:
cga2000 wrote:
[...]
I find the exercise useful since as, I believe, A. Einstein once
remarked .. if you can't explain it .. you don't fully understand it ..
or something to that effect.
Some French author of the 17th century I think (Boileau?):
Ce qui se conçoit bien s'énonce clairement
Et les mots pour le dire arrivent aisément.
(What one conceives well is expressed clearly
And the words to describe it come to mind easily.) I don't 100% agree.
Well, maybe 85% or so. That distych is (too) often used in French to mean that
what can't be expressed in Cartesian language is not worthy of any attention.
Maybe because you leave out the context. This is indeed from Nicolas
Boileau's l'Art Poétique .. a treatise on writing .. recommendations
relative to style .. etc.
As far as I can remember this was mainly in reaction to the appalling
state of French "official" poetry of the time .. you know, all that
artificial stuff with shepherds and shepherdesses ..
Another one he wrote could probably be added to netiquette manuals
without changing a comma:
Avant donc que d'écrire, apprenez à penser.
(Before writing, one must learn to think) .. (rough translation)
Let's try to recapture the "alexandrine" rhythm:
Before you start to write, teach yourselves to think.
But I think I know where you're coming from .. and it reminds me of
another one of my favorites:
For every problem there is one solution which is simple, neat, and
wrong.
H.L. Mencken.
I hark from Brussels, Belgium, if that's what you mean.
[...]
I tend to consider that vim@vim.org is actually a priceless extension to
the vim documentation system.
Indeed.
[...]
I have had this feeling before that learning vim is a bit like mastering
craft and consider myself a lucky apprentice.
:-)
[...]
The patience and good humor of the old-timers here (first and foremost
Bram) certainly acts by virtue of example. Another possibility (but I'm on
less firmer ground there): maybe these lists are too confidential to
attract a lot of trolls?
And possibly a consensus that if anyone barges in with outrageous
nonsense he will be met with complete silence. He will feel like the
idiot that he is and go sell his wares elsewhere.
Thanks,
cga
:-) "Don't feed the trolls" indeed.
Best regards,
Tony.
--
No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether
she will or will not be a mother.
-- Margaret H. Sanger
