This morning I read the above quote, and saw it attributed to Stephen Hawking. I loved that. I relished the quote through lunch. I was looking for the source of the material, and found that Hawking was quoting Woody Allen, and that he has used that quote before. What makes no sense is my sense of disappointment in hearing that quote from Allen. It sounds just like him. It still has it's meaning, yet since the author changed, I appreciate it less
I think this is likely a perceived value. Allen works in comedy. It is expected from him. Hawking's tapestry is is a scientist. We aren't expecting humor to roll off of his tongue, so when it does, it's perceived value is that much greater. In a way, it reminds me of a episode of MASH. In the episode, BJ and Hawkeye go around telling the same joke. BJ gets the laughs, even when Hawkeye has told the joke to the same person first. In the camp, BJ is more of the straight man. Sure, he is a jokester, but comparing the two, he is the straight man. So people enjoy the joke more when it comes from him.
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3 comments:
I'm one worse than that.
The first time I read this quote, it was written in French, and attributed to Franz Kafka.
I translated it to english, tried to find in which of the great man's works it was written-- only to find it did, indeed, come from Woody Allen. Your blog gave me a brief glimmer of hope, but alas...
I'm glad it was Woody Allen. In fact I only came here to correct you... seems you don't need correcting.
Woody Allen is a comedian... and this quote is philosophical.
Incongruity is a staple of comedy. That's why we think it is funny when a baby talks about investing, or an old lady in an airport yells "Go, OJ, GO!!!!" or any animal does anything remotely human-like.
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