Archimedes, however, in writing to King Hiero, whose friend and near relation he was, had stated that given the force, any given weight might be moved, and even boasted, we are told, relying on the strength of demonstration, that if there were another earth, by going into it he could remove this. | ΚΑΙΜΕΝΤΟΙΚΑΙΑΡΧΙΜΗΔΗΣ,ΙΕΡΩΝΙ ΤΩΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΣΥΓΓΕΝΗΣΩΝΚΑΙΦΙΛΟΣ,ΕΓΡΑΨΕΝΩΣΤΗΔΟΘΕΙΣΗΔΥΝΑΜΕΙΤΟΔΟΘΕΝΒΑΡΟΣΚΙΝΗΣΑΙΔΥΝΑΤΟΝΕΣΤΙ,ΚΑΙΝΕΑΝΙΕΥΣΑΜΕΝΟΣ,ΩΣΦΑΣΙ,ΡΩΜΗΤΗΣΑΠΟΔΕΙΞΕΩΣΕΙΠΕΝΩΣ,ΕΙΓΗΝΕΙΧΕΝΕΤΕΡΑΝ,ΕΚΙΝΗΣΕΝΑΝΤΑΥΤΗΝΜΕΤΑΒΑΣΕΙΣΕΚΕΙΝΗΝ. |
Plutarch (c. 45-120 AD)
Life of Marcellus
Translated by John Dryden (1631-1700)
Again, he [Archimedes] used to say, in the Doric speech of Syracuse : “Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world.” | ΕΛΕΓΕ ΔΕ ΚΑΙ ΔΩΡΙΣΤΙ ΦΩΝΗ ΣΥΡΑΚΟΥΣΙΑ,“ΠΑ ΒΩ ΚΑΙ ΧΑΡΙΣΤΙΩΝΙ ΤΑΝ ΓΑΝ ΚΙΝΗΣΩ ΠΑΣΑΝ.” |
John Tzetzes (12th century AD)
Book of Histories (Chiliades) 2, 129-130
Translated by Francis R. Walton
Archimedes, that he might transport the entire globe from the place it occupied to another, demanded only a point that was firm and immovable; so, also, I shall be entitled to entertain the highest expectations, if I am fortunate enough to discover only one thing that is certain and indubitable. | Nihil nisi punctum petebat Archimedes, quod esset firmum & immobile, ut integram terram loco dimoveret; magna quoque speranda sunt, si vel minimum quid invenero quod certum sit & inconcussum. |
René Descartes (1596-1650)
Meditations On First Philosophy
Meditation II, 1641
Translated by John Veitch
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
American Author and Revolutionary
The Rights of Man
Part the Second, 1792
Combining Principle and Practice: Introduction
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
(Letter from Thomas Jefferson to M. Correa de Serra, 1814)
The Writings of Thomas Jefferson
Memorial Edition (Lipscomb and Bergh, editors)
Washington, D.C., 1903-04
Volume 14, page 222
And you will be perhaps surprised to find
All things pursue exactly the same route,
As now with those of soi-disant sound mind.
This I could prove beyond a single doubt,
Were there a jot of sense among mankind;
But till that point d'appui is found, alas!
Like Archimedes, I leave earth as 't was.
Lord Byron (George Gordon) (1788-1824)
Don Juan
Canto the Fourteenth, LXXXIV , 1819-1824
Peter the Hermit, Calvin, and Robespierre, sons of the same soil, at intervals of three centuries were, in a political sense, the levers of Archimedes. Each in turn was an embodied idea finding its fulcrum in the interests of man. | Pierre L' Hermite, Calvin et Robespierre, chacun à trois cents ans de distance, ces trois Picards ont été, politiquement parlant, des leviers d' Archimède. C' était chacun à chaque époque une pensée qui rencontrait un point d' appui dans les intérêts et chez les hommes. |
Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850)
Catherine de' Medici
Chapter XIII: Calvin, 1846
Translated by George Saintsbury
He was thinking alone, and seriously racking his brain to find a direction for this single force four times multiplied, with which he did not doubt, as with the lever for which Archimedes sought, they should succeed in moving the world, when some one tapped gently at his door. | Il y songeait, lui, et sérieusem*nt même, se creusant la cervelle pour trouver une direction à cette force unique quatre fois multipliée avec laquelle il ne doutait pas que, comme avec le levier que cherchait Archimède, on ne parvînt à soulever le monde,lorsque l'on frappa doucement à la porte. |
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)
The Three Musketeers(Les Trois Mousquetaires)
Chapter VIII: A Court Intrigue, 1844
O vanity! you are the lever with which Archimedes wanted to lift the earthly globe! | О самолюбие! ты рычаг которым Архимед хотел приподнять земной шар! |
Mikhail Lermontov (1814-1841)
A Hero of Our Time
Princess Mary, 1840
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
“Archimedes”
Australian Standard, 1887 (under the pseudonym Twark Main)
Bram [Abraham] Stoker (1847-1912)
Dracula
Chapter 25, 1897
Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)
A Personal Record
A Familiar Preface, 1912
Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
Revolution Betrayed: What is the Soviet Union and where is it going?
Chapter 8:3 Foreign Policy and the Army: The Red Army and its Doctrines, 1936
Translated by Max Eastman
Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980)
Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, 1964
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963)Two years ago I told this body that the United States had proposed, and was willing to sign, a limited test ban treaty. Today that treaty has been signed. It will not put an end to war. It will not remove basic conflicts. It will not secure freedom for all. But it can be a lever, and Archimedes, in explaining the principles of the lever, was said to have declared to his friends: “Give me a place where I can stand—and I shall move the world.”
President of the United States (1961-1963)
Presidential campaign speech proposing the United States Peace Corps
San Francisco, California, USA
November 2, 1960
(As reported by The New York Times, November 3, 1960, page 32)
My fellow inhabitants of this planet: Let us take our stand here in this Assembly of nations. And let us see if we, in our own time, can move the world to a just and lasting peace.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963)I’m told that John F. Kennedy was fond of quoting Archimedes, who explained the principle of the lever by declaring: “Give me a place to stand, and I can move the world.” My fellow Americans—here I stand. Come join me, and together we will move the world to a new era of a just and lasting peace.
President of the United States (1961-1963)
Address Before the 18th General Assembly of the United Nations
New York, New York, USA,
September 20, 1963
Theodore C. Sorensen (1928- )
President John F. Kennedy’s special counsel, advisor, and speech writer
“The New Vision: The speech I want the Democratic nominee [for President in 2008] to give”
Cover story in the Washington Monthly, July/August 2007
“Give me a place to stand,” said Archimedes, “and I will move the world.” These men moved the world, and so can we all.
Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968)
Day of Affirmation Address
University of Capetown
Capetown, South Africa
June 6, 1966
Edward M. Kennedy (1932-2009)
U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1962-2009)
Commencement Speech
Bentley College
Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
May 20, 2000
George Bush. (1924-)
President of the United States (1989-1993)
Albert Gore, Jr. (1948- )
Vice President of the United States (1993-2001)
Wrap-Up Address:
White House Forum on the Role of Science and Technology
in Promoting National Security and Global Stability
Washington, D.C., March 30, 1995
Secretary of Defense of the United States (1997-2001)
Or America can emulate Archimedes and, from the position of strength where we stand, find a lever to move the world.
Commencement Address for the Graduating Class of 1997Archimedes once said that “give me a lever, a place to stand, and I will move the world.” History has given Secretary [of State Madeleine] Albright a place to stand, and using her heartfelt conviction, her steady determination, and her visionary leadership as her lever, and with your extraordinary help, she is moving the world.
United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
May 28, 1997
Remarks at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, SpainCenturies ago, Archimedes discovered the secret behind the lever and declared: “Give me a place to stand, and I will move the world.” Today, history has given the United States a place to stand. Using our ideals, our diplomacy and our military might as our lever, we have the unique opportunity to move the world, not simply for the betterment of others, but for the betterment of ourselves.
July 9, 1997
Remarks at the Commonwealth Club of CaliforniaCenturies ago, Archimedes discovered the secret behind the lever, and declared “Give me a place to stand, and I will move the world.” Well, today, we have earned the power of Archimedes. The place where we stand is the sole global power of the world, a beacon of hope to free people around the world. And from this position of strength and influence, we can move the world in a better direction. How will we move it? What is our lever?
San Francisco, California, USA
July, 21, 1997
Remarks at Kansas State UniversityBut he discovered the principle that Archimedes discovered, as he said, give me a place to stand and I will move the world. Well, in the first years in the Senate, he found a device that I used to use and he has followed my example. He is given five minutes to ask questions. And he usually takes exactly five minutes to ask every question and then imposes upon the witness 10 minutes to have an answer. It has served him extraordinarily well.
Manhattan, Kansas, USA
September 12, 1997
Remarks about U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman at the Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom
Washington, D.C., USA
November 3, 1997