"There is an Indian story -- at least I heard it as an Indian story -- about an Englishman who, having been told that the world rested on a platform which rested on the back of an elephant which rested in turn on the back of a turtle, asked (perhaps he was an ethnographer; it is the way they behave), what did the turtle rest on? Another turtle. And that turtle? 'Ah, Sahib, after that it is turtles all the way down.'"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (1973), p. 28-29.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Turtles_all_the_way_down
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Turtles all the way down
5 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Turtles all the way down →
Related Quotes
"Some ancient Asian cosmological views are close to the idea of an infinite regression of causes, as exemplified in th…"
"My opponent's reasoning reminds me of the heathen, who, being asked on what the world stood, replied, "On a tortoise.…"
"Like the old woman in the story who described the world as resting on a rock, and then explained that rock to be supp…"
"If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause. If there can be anything without a cause, it may just as…"
"What shall I wish you Robbie Croll— A girl, a book, or wine? For sages tell, who these control Shall taste of the div…"
"Sex and drugs and rock and roll Is all my brain and body need Sex and drugs and rock and roll Is very good indeed."
"Poetry and pistols, wine and women."
"Deutsche Frauen, deutsche Treue, Deutscher Wein, und deutscher Sang."
"Give me women, wine and snuff Until I cry out "hold, enough!" You may do so sans objection Till the day of resurrecti…"
"Cigareetes and whusky and wild, wild women They'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane."