Of great men

Piet Hien aka Kumbel, a danish scientist, mathematican, games creator (like Hex, also attributed to Nash) and wirter of small poems called Grooks. Here are some samples:

Grooks by Piet Hein
Since all of his Grook collections seem to be out of print, it can be very difficult for people to be exposed to Piet Hein's wonderful way with words. This page has a sampling of just some of the thousands of Grooks that this Danish poet/scientist/architect/all-round human being wrote in his lifetime.
THRIFTNobody can be lucky all the time;so when your luck deserts you in some fashiondon't think you've been abandoned in your prime,but rather that you're saving up your ration.

THREE FACTS ABOUT TRAFFIC
Three facts, quite easy,should be known to allwould-be arriverswho set out on wheels:that roads are greasy,safety margins small,and fellow driversfellow imbeciles.

ARS BREVISThere isone art,
no more,
no less:
to doall thingswith artlessness.

PROBLEMS
Problems worthyof attack
prove their worthby hitting back.

THE ETERNAL TWINS
Taking fun as simply fun
and earnestnessin earnest
shows how thoroughly
thou noneof the two
discernest.

CONSOLATION GROOK
Losing one glove
is certainly painful,
but nothingcompared to the pain,
of losing one,throwing away the other,
and findingthe first one again.

T. T. T.
Put up in a placewhere it's easy to seethe cryptic admonishment
T. T. T.
When you feel how depressingly
slowly you climb,
it's well to remember thatThings Take Time.

MANKIND
Men, said the Devil,
are good to their brothers:
they don’t want to mend
their own ways,
but each other's.

A MAXIM FOR VIKINGS
Here is a factthat should help you fighta bit longer:
Things that don't act-ually kill you outright
make you stronger.

IT ISN'T ENOUGH
One paramount truth
our society smothers
in petty concernwith position and pelf:
It isn't enoughto exasperate others;
you've got to rememberto gladden yourself.

BRAVE
To be brave is to behave
bravely when your heart is faint.
So you can be really brave
only when you really ain't.

THE SLOT MACHINE
A contribution to the psychology of disappointment
Yes, life is a gamble;but isn't it meanthat you're never the oneto win it,
when the thing is
a coin-in-the-slot machine,
and you did
put a shirt-button in it.

GOOD ADVICE
Shun adviceat any price -that's what I call
good advice.

LAST THINGS FIRST
Solutions to problems
are easy to find:
the problem's a great
contribution.
What's truly an art
is to wring from your minda problem to fita solution.

SIMILARITY
Commutative Law
No cow's like a horse,
and no horse like a cow.
That's one similarityanyhow.

BUDGETING: THE FIRST LAW
If you want to know
where your money went,
you must spend it quicklybefore it's spent.

(on Denmark)
Denmark seen from a foreign land
looks but like a grain of sand.
Denmark as we Danes conceive it
is so big you won’t believe it.

NEXT CLAUDE SHANNON