DEAR ABBY: A friend sent me a clipping of a column you wrote in 1987. It appeared in The Daily Times in Pryor, Okla. I thought it was great.
Will you kindly run it again? -- FAITHFUL READER, GLENDALE, ARIZ.
DEAR READER: Thanks for sending it. I agree it merits a second time around:
DEAR ABBY: I am enclosing several quotes from famous people. You may want to pass these along to your readers. I clipped this from the Arizona Republic in Phoenix. If you run this in your column, perhaps it might make some of us feel we are not all that stupid. Thank you. -- JOHN NESBIT, PHOENIX
DEAR JOHN: We can all use a little reassurance. These quotes reaffirm the fact that what may appear sensible at the time can be ludicrous later. For example:
-- "Everything that can be invented has already been invented." (Charles H. Duell, director of the U.S. Patent Office, 1899)
-- "Who the hell wants to hear actors TALK?" (Harry M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927)
-- "Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote." (Grover Cleveland, 1905)
-- "There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom." (Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923)
-- "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." (Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895)
-- "Babe Ruth made a big mistake when he gave up pitching." (Tris Speaker, 1921)