Hi, karshish-ga!
Thank you for your question. The location of your quotation was both
an entertaining and challenging search.
I believe that the quote you are searching for is:
"The recognition of the existence of a problem is the first step in
its solution."
This quote is attributed to Dr. Martin H. Fischer, a professor of
Physiology at the Universty of Cincinnati.
[Website Containing Quotation]
"House of God"
http://www-users.rwth-aachen.de/ole.breithardt/obre_hog.htm
This web page contains several quotations from a book called "House of
God", by Samuel Shem. It also contains several "Fischerisms", which
are a set of quotations collected and published as a book by students
of his. The book was first published in 1930.
The following USENET thread contains a number of other "Fischerisms"
[Google Groups thread "Fischerisms"]
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&threadm=3b8da481.2704938%40news.mindspring.com&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26safe%3Doff%26q%3DMartin%2BFischer%2Bproblem%2Bsolution%2Bgroup%253Aalt.quotations%26btnG%3DGoogle%2BSearch
Of potentially significant interest is the fact that the book
"Fischerisms" is no longer in print, but you may be able to obtain a
copy from Bibliofind or Abebooks.
[Bibliofind]
http://www.bibliofind.com
As of this writing, there are three copies available on Bibliofind. At
least one is signed.
[Abebooks]
http://www.abebooks.com/
There are 15 search results for the search term "Fischerisms" on
abebooks.com as of this writing.
A couple of other quotes from "Fischerisms"
"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking."
"Socrates was killed by a committee."
I may have to get a copy of this book myself. It sounds quite
entertaining.
I hope this information is of use to you, and if I can provide you
with any further clarification or information, please don't hesitate
to ask.
Regards,
Cyclometh (cylometh-ga)
Search strategy:
On google Groups: problem "first step" group:alt.quotations |
Request for Answer Clarification by
karshish-ga
on
12 Aug 2003 01:54 PDT
Thank you cyclometh-ga. Although Dr Fischer's remark is clearly
relevant, I feel there is a more pithy and often-quoted aphorism by
some better-known person, more along the lines of my question. I
really need something that says something like, "Defining a problem
goes a long way towards solving it." I would be very grateful if you
could help.
Karshish-ga
|
Clarification of Answer by
cyclometh-ga
on
12 Aug 2003 02:25 PDT
I will of course continue to search for any variations I can conceive
of. This may require a trip to the library, as I have just about
exhausted every possible resource I can come up with at this time. :)
I will provide further clarifications as I find more information.
If you can provide any other variations you can think of for this
quote, other possible language combinations, or the context in which
you think this quote was made, it may be of assistance. I will work as
diligently as I can to determine if there is another quotation which
is the one you are seeking.
I sincerely hope you understand that I posted my original answer in
the best of faith, firmly believing that it was the quote you were
seeking. I will do my utmost to find the one you are seeking, but
other than the Fischer quote, I have found nothing that is even close
to the quotation you provided, much to my regret.
Best regards,
Cyclometh (cyclometh-ga)
|
Clarification of Answer by
cyclometh-ga
on
12 Aug 2003 22:42 PDT
Hello again, karshish-ga!
I'm afraid that I have been unable to find any other attributions for
the quote you were seeking. As a poster in the comments noted, it is a
relatively common saying, especially in the techincal disciplines- it
seems as though half of the software engineers and physicists on the
planet have said something similar in a paper or publication at one
time or another. :)
In addition to searching both Google and Google Groups, focusing in
particular on the alt.quotations newsgroup (which may be a good
resource to try next if you haven't already), I have dug through
nearly every collection of quotations I could lay my hands on, from
Bartlett's to little collections on the web.
I have one more possible ace to play, however. My father-in-law is a
huge lover of quotations, so I mean to ask him tomorrow if he either
knows of or can tell me where I can find obscure or
difficult-to-locate quotations. If and when I hear anything, I will
respond here.
I'm very sorry that I have been unable to locate the quote you were
seeking. However, I appreciate the rating you provided and the
feedback you've given.
Regards,
Cyclometh (cyclometh-ga)
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