Calling B.S. on an insane saying

Here is a letter to the editor that appeared in the Sunday, September 21, 2008 issue of the San Antonio Express-News.

Review the history

In order from highest to lowest, the 10 U.S. cities with the highest poverty rates are: Detroit, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Miami, St. Louis, El Paso, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Newark.

The last time the following cities elected mayors who weren’t Democrats was: Detroit, 1961; Buffalo, 1954; Cincinnati, 1984; Cleveland, 1989; St. Louis, 1949; Milwaukee, 1908; Philadelphia, 1952, and Newark, 1907.

Albert Einstein once defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

C. F. Eckhardt, Seguin

No, no, no, no, no! I am tired of hearing this stupid saying! Please, quit using it!

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is not the definition of insanity. The definition of insanity is really "the condition of being insane; a derangement of the mind". I know, I know, people like to use that line repeated by Mr. Eckhardt of Seguin because it makes for good hyperbole, but that is not an accurate saying, and it was never uttered by any person such as Einstein.

In fact, the line actually is this: "Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results." It's from a book by an American writer named Rita Mae Brown. It may have been a clever line at the time Ms. Brown published her book, but it's not anymore. It's overused and it's trite. Please, let's not utter it again.

Rant over.