“I never understood music. It seemed to me to be the maximum amount of noise conveying the minimum amount of information.”
Source: The Naked Civil Servant (1968), Ch. 27
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Quentin Crisp 66
writer, Actor 1908–1999Related quotes
As quoted in Liberalism is a Mental Disorder : Savage Solutions (2005) by Michael Savage, Ch. 1 : More Patton, Less Patent Leather, p. 4
“Minimum information given with maximum politeness.”
Instructions to press secretary Pamela Turnure; Quoted in A Hero for Our Time (1983) by Ralph G Martin; sometimes rendered : "I want minimum information given with maximum politeness."
Promoting "Crocker's Rules" at SL4 (c. 2000) http://www.sl4.org/crocker.html
Context: Declaring yourself to be operating by "Crocker's Rules" means that other people are allowed to optimize their messages for information, not for being nice to you. Crocker's Rules means that you have accepted full responsibility for the operation of your own mind — if you're offended, it's your fault. Anyone is allowed to call you a moron and claim to be doing you a favor. (Which, in point of fact, they would be. One of the big problems with this culture is that everyone's afraid to tell you you're wrong, or they think they have to dance around it.) Two people using Crocker's Rules should be able to communicate all relevant information in the minimum amount of time, without paraphrasing or social formatting. Obviously, don't declare yourself to be operating by Crocker's Rules unless you have that kind of mental discipline.
Note that Crocker's Rules does not mean you can insult people; it means that other people don't have to worry about whether they are insulting you. Crocker's Rules are a discipline, not a privilege. Furthermore, taking advantage of Crocker's Rules does not imply reciprocity. How could it? Crocker's Rules are something you do for yourself, to maximize information received — not something you grit your teeth over and do as a favor.
Source: Designing complex organizations, 1973, p. 5
“Passion was inversely proportional to the amount of real information available.”
Source: Timescape (1980), Chapter 14 (p. 182, known as Benford's law of controversy)
Context: It was an example of what he thought of as the Law of Controversy: Passion was inversely proportional to the amount of real information available.
“I would never ever amount to anything without him. That’s what he told me.”
Billen, Andrew. "I Made More Money As A Stripper..." http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article445303.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2, (2004-06-15)
On her ex-husband Charles Thomson.
Variant: While it is always possible to wake a person who's sleeping, no amount of noise will wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.
Source: Eating Animals
On her ideal music in “Kim Gordon unmasked: a natural instinct of going against the grain” https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/kim-gordon-unmasked-a-natural-instinct-of-going-against-the-grain-20190805-p52dxg.html in The Sydney Morning Herald (2019 Aug 9)