CF
Charles Fort
70quotes
Full Name and Common Aliases
Charles Fort was born as Charles Hoy Fort on August 6, 1874, in Albany, New York. He is often referred to by his initials "C.H." and later adopted the pseudonym "Chas. H. Fort."
Birth and Death Dates
Fort lived for 55 years, passing away on May 13, 1932.
Nationality and Profession(s)
He was an American writer, editor, and researcher who specialized in unconventional and anomalous scientific phenomena. Fort is best known for his work as a literary figure rather than a scientist or academic.
Early Life and Background
Growing up in Albany, New York, Charles Fort developed an interest in literature at a young age. He attended the Albany High School before dropping out to pursue a career in writing. Fort worked various jobs, including newspaper reporter, editor, and writer, which allowed him to travel extensively throughout his life.
Major Accomplishments
Fort is notable for collecting and documenting unusual scientific events, often referred to as "anomalies." These anomalies include reports of strange creatures, unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and other inexplicable phenomena. He compiled a comprehensive collection of these stories in several books, including The Book of the Damned and New Lands, which were first published in 1919 and 1923, respectively.
Notable Works or Actions
Fort's work challenged conventional scientific thinking and sparked debates within the academic community about the role of anomaly in understanding human knowledge. He is often credited with being one of the earliest researchers into UFOs and related phenomena.
Impact and Legacy
Charles Fort's contributions to literary and philosophical thought are still debated today. His books have been influential among those who study unconventional science, as well as skeptics and believers alike. Many see him as a precursor to later writers who explored similar themes, such as Ivan T. Sanderson.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
Fort's unique perspective on the scientific method has made his quotes popular among those interested in unconventional science and anomalous phenomena. He is often remembered for challenging traditional views of reality and encouraging readers to question established knowledge.
Quotes by Charles Fort
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The mind of no man is a unit, but is a community of mental states that influence one another.
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I fear me, I fear me: this is one of the profoundly damned. I blurt out something that should, perhaps, be withheld for several hundred pages – but that damned thing was the size of an elephant.
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But Truth is that besides which there is nothing: nothing to modify it, nothing to question it, nothing to form an exception: the all-inclusive, the complete – By Truth, I mean the Universal.
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So, then, in general metaphysical terms, our expression is that, like a purgatory, all that is commonly called “existence,” which we call Intermediateness, is quasi-existence, neither real nor unreal, but expression of attempt to become real, or to generate for or recruit a real existence.
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That social organism is embryonic. That firmly to believe is to impede development. That only temporarily to accept is to facilitate.
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If the basic fallacies, or the absence of base, in every specialization of thought can be seen by the units of its opposition, why then we see that all supposed foundations in our whole existence are myths, and that all discussion and supposed progress are the conflicts of phantoms and the overthrow of old delusions by new delusions. Nevertheless.
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But some of us have been educated by surprises out of much that we were ‘absolutely sure’ of...
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If any spiritualistic medium can do stunts, there is no more need for special conditions than there is for a chemist to turn down lights, start operations with a hymn, and ask whether there’s any chemical present that has affinity with something named Hydrogen.
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It is our expression that the flux between that which isn’t and that which won’t be, or the state that is commonly and absurdly called “existence,” is a rhythm of heavens and hells: that the damned won’t stay damned; that salvation only precedes perdition. The inference is that some day our accursed tatterdemalions will be sleek angels. Then the sub-inference is that some later day, back they’ll go whence they came.
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