“Proponga a un inglés cualquier principio, o cualquier instrumento, por admirable que sea, y observará que todo el esfuerzo de la mente inglesa está dirigido a encontrar una dificultad, un defecto o una imposibilidad en él. Si le hablas de una máquina para pelar una papa, lo declarará imposible: si la pelas con una papa delante de sus ojos, la declarará inútil, porque no cortará una piña.”

Original: «Propose to an Englishman any principle, or any instrument, however admirable, and you will observe that the whole effort of the English mind is directed to find a difficulty, a defect, or an impossibility in it. If you speak to him of a machine for peeling a potato, he will pronounce it impossible: if you peel a potato with it before his eyes, he will declare it useless, because it will not slice a pineapple». <br class="br">Fuente: Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Oxford Paperback Reference. Editora Susan Ratcliffe. Editorial OUP Oxford, 2011. ISBN 9780199567072. p. 22. https://books.google.es/books?id=KRiFmlT2cdIC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=OUP+Oxford,+2011+ISBN%090199567077,+9780199567072&amp;hl=es&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwi6vODuoNfgAhXlsnEKHdl7BoEQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&amp;q=Propose%20to%20an%20Englishman%20any%20principle%2C%20or%20any%20instrument%2C%20however%20admirable%2C%20and%20you%20will%20observe%20that%20the%20whole%20effort%20of%20the%20English&amp;f=false