Rhetorician Quotes (1 quote)
In Mathematics, censorship and criticism can not be allowed to everyone; the speeches of the rhetoricians and the defenses of the lawyers are worthless.
From In Artem Analyticem Isagoge (1591, “Introduction to the Analytic Arts”), translated from the original Latin to French in Édouard Lucas, Récréations Mathématiques (1883), Vol. 2, 1, given as, “Dans les Mathématiques, la censure et la critique ne peuvent être permises à tout le monde; les discours des rhéteurs et les défenses des avocats n’y valent rien.” English version from the French by Webmaster using Google translate.
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
(1987) -- 
