Prof. Barus' Retirement dinner speech, Brown University (1926) as quoted by in One of the 999 about to be Forgotten: Memoirs of Carl Barus, 1865-1935 (2005) ed., Axel W.-O. Scmidt.
Context: [L]et me refer to my original work. Naturally, if a student has been hammering away ever since 1979... he must have accumulated a lot of litter, much of which, perhaps, should have long since been swept away. But the fates are not to be bribed either by pother or importunity. Out of 1,000 men who are called, one (probably the ratio is much smaller) is chosen to do glorious scientific work. The others? Their lot is failure. They may be equally or even more industrious, they may have equal or even greater brain power—the other 999 exist merely to make the illustrious one in whom they culminate, possible. After that, the world will say to each in words of poetic brevity: "The man has done his duty, the man can go." And they do, pretty quickly, to a gentler lethe, flowing between the banks of amaranth and asphodel.
Gentlemen, I am one of the 999 about to be forgotten.
“Only one man in a thousand is a leader of men -- the other 999 follow women.”
“No, gentlemen, if I am to be shot at, I want no man to be in the way of the bullet.”
As military governor of Tennessee, asserting that he would walk alone, to friends who offered to escort him to the statehouse, after postings of a placard saying he should be "shot on sight." (c.1862); as quoted in Andrew Johnson, President of the United States: His Life and Speeches (1866) by Lillian Foster.
Quote
“Gentlemen, I am a bulldog, and you will find my bark is worse!”
Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (1978)
“He has forgotten you! I am a people child. I am people's child.”
Source: The Old Curiosity Shop (1841), Ch. 66
“iMac is next year's computer for $1,299, not last year's computer for $999.”
Introduction of the first iMac computer in Cupertino, California, (6 May 1998)
1990s
“Yes, I am preoccupied with myself. But I've forgotten what that means.”
Sí, me ocupo de mí, pero he olvidado qué significa ocuparme de mí.
Voces (1943)
“I am the black crow king,
Keeper of the forgotten corn,
The King!”
Song lyrics, The Firstborn Is Dead (1985), Black Crow King
The Nuts of Knowledge (1903)
