# What is the most accurate statement made by one person in the 20th century? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2014, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319 "2014-11-11T07:59:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/1 "2014-11-11T07:59:10Z")
I vote for [Newton Minow,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_N._Minow#Federal_Communications_Commission_Chair) who, as FCC Chair stated on May 9, 1961, “When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there for a day without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.” Oh, and maybe, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”, by that [other guy.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt) ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/2 "2014-11-11T09:12:20Z")
[Ferdinand Foch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Foch), who said, of the treaty of Versailles, “This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years”. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/3 "2014-11-11T11:06:15Z")
“The medium is the message.” Marshall Mcluen ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/4 "2014-11-11T14:13:51Z")
“I think we all agree, the past is over.” – George W. Bush. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/5 "2014-11-11T14:30:42Z")
“It is indeed a great wall.” – Richard M. Nixon. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/6 "2014-11-11T17:06:39Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > [Ferdinand Foch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Foch), who said, of the treaty of Versailles, “This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years”. I like this one. I think the OP could be better worded… obviously, it’s easy to make statements that are essentially 100% accurate but of no particular significance, like, “I was born on July 23, 1955.” Accurate predictions are more interesting. Another example is the famous forecast of the outcome of the 1920 Republican National Convention by Harry Daugherty, Warren G. Harding’s political manager: “I don’t expect Senator Harding to be nominated on the first, second, or third ballots, but I think we can afford to take chances that about 11 minutes after two, Friday morning of the convention, when 15 or 12 weary men are sitting around a table, someone will say: ‘Who will we nominate?’ At that decisive time, the friends of Harding will suggest him and we can well afford to abide by the result.” Harding was a reluctant candidate who got between 6% and 9% on the first 6 ballots, and was nominated on the tenth ballot, pretty much exactly as Daugherty had said. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/7 "2014-11-11T20:03:14Z")
Dwight D. Eisenhower, warning us about the military/industrial complex. Second place, Grorge Orwell warning us that superpowers will squander resources and keep their people cowed and oppressed by newspeak about an imaginary enemy in order to protect the interests of the elite with wealth and power. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/8 "2014-11-11T22:13:15Z")
After LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 he said “We just delivered the South to the Republican Party for a long time to come.” ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/9 "2014-11-11T23:29:37Z")
Rodney King, somewhere in his can’t we all just get along speech; ‘‘We’re all stuck here for awhile.’’ ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/10 "2014-11-11T23:38:11Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > [Ferdinand Foch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Foch), who said, of the treaty of Versailles, “This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years”. /thread ---
**Author:** ![Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obnoxious_Hood_Ornament)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/11 "2014-11-13T17:22:14Z")
“Man, those Samoans are a surly bunch.” – With apologies to Margaret Mead. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/12 "2014-11-13T17:23:49Z")
“In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” - Andy Warhol ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/13 "2014-11-13T17:30:50Z")
“History is more or less bunk.” - Henry Ford ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/14 "2014-11-13T17:52:15Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > I vote for [Newton Minow,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_N._Minow#Federal_Communications_Commission_Chair) who, as FCC Chair stated on May 9, 1961, > > “When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there for a day without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.” In the first place, that is a statement of opinion, not of fact, and thus is neither accurate nor inaccurate. In the second place, it’s clearly wrong. 😃 The first sentence, anyway. _Mad Men_ is probably the most bloody brilliant TV series better, but it’s nowhere near as enjoyable to me as Valerie Martin’s novel _A Recent Martyr_, or _Miss Saigon_ on Broadway, or _The Fellowship of the Ring_ on an Imax screen, or Tori Amos’s _Little Earthquakes_. There was a third place but I forgot what it was while trying to pick an album. In the fourth place, the answer to the thread question is obviously E=mc[sup]2[/sup]. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/15 "2014-11-13T20:22:28Z")
“You can’t learn any younger.” My mother, to me, whenever I claimed I couldn’t do something because I didn’t know how. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/16 "2014-11-13T21:38:29Z")
OK, cheating, because it’s 19th century, but still worthwhile: \*Europe today is a powder keg and the leaders are like men smoking in an arsenal … A single spark will set off an explosion that will consume us all … I cannot tell you when that explosion will occur, but I can tell you where … Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans will set it off. \* Otto von Bismarck (1878) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/17 "2014-11-13T21:57:58Z")
“I’ll be back.” ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/18 "2014-11-13T22:06:32Z")
“This sucks! More than anything has ever sucked before”. - Butthead “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” - Isoroku Yamamoto ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/19 "2014-11-13T22:21:57Z")
The calculation of the anomalous dipole moment of the election from Quantum Electrodynamics, from Julian Schwinger. And others. OK, that’s not 1 person, it’s a collective of several people. But the calculation has been done to amazing accuracy, and an astounding level of agreement with the measured empirical value. They agree to a part per billion! > **[Anomalous magnetic dipole moment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomalous_magnetic_dipole_moment)** > > In quantum electrodynamics, the anomalous magnetic moment of a particle is a contribution of effects of quantum mechanics, expressed by Feynman diagrams with loops, to the magnetic moment of that particle. (The magnetic moment, also called magnetic dipole moment, is a measure of the strength of a magnetic source.) > The "Dirac" magnetic moment, corresponding to tree-level Feynman diagrams (which can be thought of as the classical result), can be calculated from the Dirac equation. It is usually ... > **[Precision tests of QED | Anomalous magnetic dipole moments](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_tests_of_QED#Anomalous_magnetic_dipole_moments)** > > The most precise measurement of α comes from the anomalous magnetic dipole moment, or g−2 (pronounced "g minus 2"), of the electron. To make this measurement, two ingredients are needed: ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319/20 "2014-11-13T22:37:37Z")
‘I know what I am, and I’m glad I’m a man, and so is Lola.’ Ray Davies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-accurate-statement-made-by-one-person-in-the-20th-century/704319.md?page=2)