05-18-2011, 07:39 AM
Mike Johnson wrote:
[quote=haikuman]Actually the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting change.
Everybody says that, but I want to know, who first said it? It's not the definition of insanity, and I want to know who to blame.
I found this.... and I did misquote.....
Answer
The answer isn't really known but current consensus is that it came from the author Rita Mae Brown in her book Sudden Death on Pg. 68 from 1983.
Quote: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results."
Most people will attribute this quote to Albert Einstein but there is no evidence to suggest that he made this statement.
This quote "Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results" appears in the Basic Text of Narcotics Anonymous which was copyrighted in 1982 and later published in 1983. It is found on page 11 of the final "Review Form" which was distributed to the fellowship in November of 1981. It is found on page 23 of the current sixth edition.
...Yep! Looks like this reference to a presumably-available hard-copy from November, 1981, clinches the factual record. Previously offered pretentious and false "logic" notwithstanding, the term MUST be designated the original until further evidence contradicts it.
Note: There are comments associated with this question. See the discussion page to add to the conversation.
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_first_said_the_definition_of_insanity_is_to_do_the_same_thing_over_and_over_and_expect_different_results#ixzz1MggV4NQp
Another point of view *(:>*
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
To close out the week, I wanted to post some thoughts on a quote I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.
In the typical Google search for the quotation, it’s quoted by marketers, life coaches and sofa philosophers throughout the Internet. This contradictory post that states that this is the dumbest thing ever repeated by smart people stands in the face of all these hoorah-hoorah posts that use the quotation as a motivation to enact change in peoples’ lives, marketing campaigns, organizations or anything else anyone can think of.
http://rodgerv.wordpress.com/2007/02/10/...t-results/
and these :
http://www.quotationspage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=282
http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=33566
Rudie