Thursday 21 January 2010

Anecdotes on X- January 21st

When Ludwig Wittgenstein went to Cambridge in 1929, he was met at the railway station by a crowd of England's greatest intellectuals, among whom was X. In a letter to his wife, Lydia Lopokova, X wrote: "Well, God has arrived. I met him on the 5.15 train."

But X was no commoner himself. X received praise ranging from:

"He was the one really great man I ever knew, and for whom I had unbounded admiration"- Friedrich Hayek

"Every time I argued with X, I felt that I took my life in my hands and I seldom emerged without feeling something of a fool"- Bertrand Russel

"X was in his most lucid and persuasive mood: and the effect was irresistible. At such moments, I often find myself thinking that X must be one of the most remarkable men that have ever lived - the quick logic, the birdlike swoop of intuition, the vivid fancy, the wide vision, above all the incomparable sense of the fitness of words, all combine to make something several degrees beyond the limit of ordinary human achievement"- Lionel Robbins

X's crowning achievement was a conference in July 1944 (bonus points for identifying the name) when his ideas were accepted as the basis for the post-world war II order which still survives.

3 comments:

IC said...

That was Keynes.

The conference was Bretton Woods, and the World Bank and IMF were established during that conference.

Dev said...

Wild guess: Noam Chomsky.

The Answer said...

X is indeed John Maynard Keynes and the conference was the momentous gathering at Bretton Woods.

I guess X isn't libertarian enough for some of us :)

Congrats to Ishani for the right answer. Thanks Dev for playing!!