“The telephone book is full of facts, but it doesn't contain a single idea.”

— Mortimer J. Adler

Source: Connie Robertson (1998). Book of Humorous Quotations. p. 2

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The telephone book is full of facts, but it doesn't contain a single idea." by Mortimer J. Adler?

Mortimer J. Adler 31

American philosopher and educator 1902–2001

Pete Hautman (1952) American children's writer

“A book is simply the container of an idea—like a bottle; what is inside the book is what matters.”

Angela Carter (1940–1992) English novelist

Expletives Deleted: Selected Writings (1992).

“There are many books that are mechanically faultless but which contain untrue, unclear, or even nonsensical ideas.”

Neil Postman (1931–2003) American writer and academic

Language Education in a Knowledge Context (1980)
Context: Of writing that is filled with mechanical and grammatical error, as compared with writing that conforms to the rules of standard edited English. Surely, we do not want to say that there is a necessary correlation between mechanical and editorial accuracy and intellectual substance. There are many books that are mechanically faultless but which contain untrue, unclear, or even nonsensical ideas. Carefully edited writing tells us, not that the writer speaks truly, but that he or she grasps... the manner in which knowledge is usually expressed. The most devastating argument against a paper that is marred by grammatical and rhetorical error is that the writer does not understand the subject.

“All of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single large American city in a single year. Not all bits have equal value.”

Carl Sagan book Cosmos

Cosmos (2011 ebook edition)
Carl Sagan
Random House
2011
July
http://books.google.com/books?id=EIqoiww1r9sC&pg=PT312&dq=%22Not+all+bits+have+equal+value%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yHThUrX4Ns-xoQSIr4DoCQ&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22Not%20all%20bits%20have%20equal%20value%22&f=false;