 The number of statements
uttered verbally and/or in print is uncountable. Some are more noteworthy than others either
because of sheer brilliance, good humor, or utter inanity. We all hope our own remembered
words, if any, fall into one of the first two categories rather than the third. I do a lot
of reading and find many notable quotes to use that fit the theme of RF Cafe; they fall into
all three categories. I always try to verify quotes from original sources or at least from
printed books like
The Experts Speak, of which I own a hard copy. Enjoy.
Notable Tech Quote Archive
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"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing
is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius
is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence
and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will
solve the problems of the human race. " -
Calvin Coolidge,
____ president o the United States of America
Notable Quote by Albert Bandura on Self
Efficacy
 "People with high assurance in their capabilities
approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided."
-
Albert Bandura, psychologist specializing in self-efficacy and observational
learning. For the record, I rarely find anything quotable from psychologists, but I found
this one recommended by "Aviation Through Aviation" editor Bill Pritchett, of the
Academy of Model Aviation's
Model Aviation magazine ...
10/11/2018
 The unofficial RF Cafe grammar checker is a retired
electrical engineer / ham radio operator. While discussing
filters lately, he wrote this: "Sometimes filters just aren't worth
the hassle, for instance many moons ago I acquired a 1,000 foot reel of wire that I used
to make a 1,000 foot long wire antenna for a crystal radio, but unfortunately there was
a 50 kW 'blowtorch' of a station nearby and I couldn't realistically filter it out
and any filtering I did try would just add loss, but I knew the station went off the
air for 'regularly scheduled maintenance' so I just waited until they were off the air
and the band was wide open! If you want to pick nits, I guess you could say that I filtered
that station in the time domain instead of the frequency domain." Brilliant ...
10/3/2018
 "If whatever signal remains has reached anyone,
it clearly hasn't inspired a reply." - Jill Tarter, SETI, regarding, 'We joke that the
first message extraterrestrials will pick up is I Love Lucy; it was among the first big
broadcasts. But Lucy's light-speed antics are pretty garbled by now." Spring 2018 issue
of Popular Science magazine.
4/4/2018
 "Forecasts are mostly just guessing plus math"
- Dilbert, 12/1/2017. It was part of
a dialog with the Pointy-Haired Boss who compelled Dilbert to prepare a financial report
for him ...
1/2/2018
 "Ideas alone have little worth. The value of an
invention lies in its practical implementation." -
Werner von Siemens, 1865. The unit of electrical conductance is named
after him.
12/11/2017
 "Buy the best and cry only once" (BTBCOO) means that a customer cries once at the high price, but doesn't
cry again (because the higher price meant greater quality). It is not clear what retailer
originated or popularized the saying. "Buy quality and cry once— buy cheap and cry forever"
has been cited in print since 1922. - Anon, from
The Big Apple.
11/29/2017
 "I don't know the last time you purchased some
new coax, but it's sold by the foot and can cost an arm and a leg!" - H. Ward Silver,
QST magazine, October 2017,
Hands-on- Radio (p71).
10/ /2017
 "I would like to die on Mars... just not on impact."
- Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, during
2013 South by Southwest (SXSW) interview. Begins at 44:15 in video ...
10/10/2017
 "Light is strange, but you can get used to it."
- Robert Lanza & Bob Berman in
Beyond Biocentrism. The book discusses some of the stranger
aspects of quantum physics including the dual particle and wave nature of light, and
the "spooky action at a distance" of entanglement. The biocentrism theme is weird, but
there is a good review of quantum theory ...
10/26/2017
 "There, his new specimens joined his collection
and waited patiently as only rocks can until he could find
time to analyze them." - Kat McGowan, "Where Did It Begin?" September
/ October 2017 Popular Science (p41).
9/ 20/2017
 "Chasing the perfect battery is a fool's journey:
a catchpenny, a sensation, a mechanism for swindling the public by stock companies,"
wrote Thomas Edison in 1883. "Working on the latest, greatest battery brings
out a man's 'latent capacity for lying." July / August 2017 Discover magazine ...
9/11/2017
 "You wouldn't dip a glass in the ocean, come up
with no fish inside and conclude, 'No fish exist.'" - astronomer
Jill Tarter regarding
where humans are with SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). July / August
2017 Discover magazine ...
9/4/2017
 "I pass with relief from the tossing sea of Cause
and Theory to the firm ground of Result and Fact." - Winston L. Spencer Churchill,
The Story of the Malakand Field Force - An Episode of Frontier War,
p60. Other Notable Tech Quotes ...
8/11/2017
 "Its catalog was the
Boys' Life of electronics." - Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, CEO of ARRL,
regarding the second bankruptcy filing for Radio Shack (May
2017 QST, p81) ...
6/22/2017
 "There is a way to tell who is used to working
on transistor equipment from those used to working on tube equipment. Before those used
to working on tube equipment touch their equipment, they put one hand in their pocket
to avoid electrocution. Before those used to working on low-voltage equipment begin to
work, they put one hand on the chassis to avoid damage from electrostatic discharge."
- Walter Underwood, K6WRU, as reported by Joel Hallas in his "The
Doctor Is In" column in the May 2017 issue of QST (p61) ...
6/7/2017
 "...timeframes are the enemy, they'l figure out
if you're behind schedule if you are too specific." - Jamie Davies, in a telecoms.com
article titled "Euro 5G Consortium Releases Roadmap with No Direction." Thanks to
RF Cafe visitor Bob Davis for the tip
...
5/31/2017
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