Quote

In one word he told me the secret of success in mathematics: plagiarize only be sure always to call it . . . research.

Tom Lehrer

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Tom Lehrer
Age: 96
Born: 1928
Born: April 9
Lyricist
Mathematician
Pianist
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
University Teacher
New York City
New York
Thomas Andrew Lehrer
Thomas Lehrer
Research
Told
Secret
Call
Sure
Word
Success
Plagiarize
Always
Mathematics

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Base eight is just like base ten really, if you're missing two fingers.
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I'm not tempted to write a song about George W.Bush. I couldn't figure out what sort of song I would write. That's the problem: I don't want to satirise George Bush and his puppeteers, I want to vaporise them. And that's not funny.
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Life is like a sewer - what you get out of it depends on what you put into it. It's always seemed to me that this is precisely the sort of dynamic, positive thinking that we so desperately need today in these trying times of crisis and universal brouhaha.
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Angels we have heard on High Tell us to go out and Buy.
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I've heard it quoted that I was dead. You can't believe anything you read. That was just an off-hand remark somebody picked up, and now it's been quoted and quoted, and therefore misquoted.
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I didn't feel the need for anonymous affection, for people in the dark applauding. To me, it would be like writing a novel and then getting up every night and reading your novel. Everything I did is on the record and, if you want to hear it, just listen to the record.
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I feel that if a person has problems communicating the very least he can do is to shut up.
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And although I'm all for freedom of expression and against censorship, there are certain things I'm not willing to go to jail for.
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For there is surely nothing more beautiful in this world than the sight of a lone man facing single-handedly a half a ton of angry pot roast!
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They love us everywhere we go. So when in doubt, send the Marines.
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Step up and shake the hand Of someone you can't stand, You can tolerate him if you try!
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The reason most folksongs are so atrocious is that they were written by the people.
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Be careful not to do your good deeds when there's no one watching you.
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On my income tax 1040 it says 'Check this box if you are blind.' I wanted to put a check mark about three inches away.
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Filth, I'm glad to say, is in the mind of the beholder. When correctly viewed, everything is lewd.
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Life is like a piano. What you get out of it depends on how you play it.
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My last public performance for money was in 1967. For free, it was 1972, with the exception of two little one-shot, one-song things. But that's just for friends, out of friendship for the people involved, and also because it was fun.
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Laughter is involuntary. If it's funny you laugh.
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But in the new (math) approach, the important thing is to understand what you're doing, rather than to get the right answer.
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We are the folk song army, every one of us cares. We all hate poverty, war, and injustice unlike the rest of you squares.
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