Think Magellan was the first man to circumnavigate the globe, baseball was invented in America, Henry VIII had six wives, Mount Everest is the tallest mountain? Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong again. Misconceptions, misunderstandings, and flawed facts finally get the heave-ho in this humorous,... read more
The book starts with an introduction from the author John Lloyd. He explains how this book works and what the idea is based upon. It is based upon the notion that the entire human race is ignorant to the point of utter and complete stupidity. He uses a quote by Thomas Edison, "We don't know a... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
“Everything you know is wrong.”Author
“If you still think it's Germany, you must have been living in a cave.”Author
“The dodo has the unenviable double distinction as a byword for being both dead and stupid.”Author
“"No call the aligator long mouth til you cross the river."”Jamaican proverb
“Cannon balls fired from men 'o war didn't actually explode (no matter what Hollywood thinks), they just tore through the hull of the ship, causing huge splinters of wood to fly around the decks at high speed, lacerating anyone within range."”Author
DEMOCRACY IS TWO WOLVES AND A LAMB VOTING ON WHAT TO HAVE FOR LUNCH. LIBERTY IS A WELL-ARMED LAMB CONTESTING THE VOTE. BENJAMIN FRANKLINHighlighted by 35 Kindle customers
LIGHT TRAVELS FASTER THAN SOUND—ISN’T THAT WHY SOME PEOPLE APPEAR BRIGHT UNTIL YOU HEAR THEM SPEAK? STEVEN WRIGHTHighlighted by 30 Kindle customers
IF YOU THINK YOU ARE TOO SMALL TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, TRY SLEEPING IN A CLOSED ROOM WITH A MOSQUITO. AFRICAN PROVERBHighlighted by 27 Kindle customers
THERE ARE THREE THINGS THAT ARE EXTREMELY HARD: STEEL, A DIAMOND, AND TO KNOW ONE’S SELF. BENJAMIN FRANKLINHighlighted by 19 Kindle customers
The largest known diamond is 2,500 miles across and measures ten billion trillion trillion carats. Found directly above Australia (eight light-years away) the diamond sits inside the star Lucy in the constellation Centaurus.Highlighted by 18 Kindle customers
The famous line from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” is possibly a mistranslation, where the original Aramaic word gamta, “sturdy rope,” was confused with gamla, “camel.”Highlighted by 18 Kindle customers
YOU CAN GET MUCH FURTHER WITH A KIND WORD AND A GUN THAN YOU CAN WITH A KIND WORD ALONE. AL CAPONEHighlighted by 16 Kindle customers
BEFORE THE CURSE OF STATISTICS FELL UPON MANKIND WE LIVED A HAPPY, INNOCENT LIFE, FULL OF MERRIMENT AND GO AND INFORMED BY FAIRLY GOOD JUDGMENT. HILAIRE BELLOCHighlighted by 14 Kindle customers
THE CHIEF DANGER IN LIFE IS THAT YOU MAY TAKE TOO MANY PRECAUTIONS. ALFRED ADLERHighlighted by 14 Kindle customers
The philtrum is the vertical groove on your upper lip that nobody knows the word for. It allows you to drink beer from the bottle by letting the air in.Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers
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