Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

The quote employed by the Prime Minister today—”A handful of soldiers is better than a mouthful of arguments”—seems to originate from the musings of Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, an 18th Century German physicist now known for his “waste books” of aphorisms. Litchenberg’s life story is fairly incredible—German scientist and hunchback befriends British royalty and becomes enduring and influential observer of the human condition—but let’s focus on this particular quote.