May 21, 2010

How to begin the thesis

Well, usually people start their thesis with a quote. So as I was procrastinating today, I decided it’s time to start thinking about such mundane details. So I searched and searched for a suitable quote, that wasn’t used by one of my colleague in near past.

I came across a forum at phdcomics.com, called: “Thesis Quote”. It’s not active any more (last post was in 2007). Anyways, I went through the forum and found some absolutely brilliant and hilarious quotes people have mentioned. Obviously, I can’t use them to begin my thesis, but it was great to laugh out while reading these. Here are few examples:

“I've put my heart and soul into this work....and lost my mind in the process.” --Van Gogh

"Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last."

"Only through suffering comes wisdom." -- Zeus

“This thesis will not solve the problem of world hunger ... but it will for me at least.”

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move." -- Douglas Adams

"The definition of madness is to do the same thing you've always done it in the same way and expect a different result." --Anon
"The definition of research is to do the same thing you've always done it in the same way and get a different result every time."  --The Author

“One could of-course say that any thesis should carry a health warning to the reader, but it's rarely insisted upon.”

And the best one was:

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

Yes, to be written in the beginning of the thesis.

P.S.: BTW, I am still looking for a nice quote to begin the thesis. Any help will be appreciated. Just FYI, most of the Einstein’s quotes are already taken (he is so popular among the science geeks like us), so I need to find someone else..

6 comments:

  1. So long, and thanks for the PhD! :) [actually that one is the name of a very good article I read when I was hunting for my own PhD decisions].

    You can always threaten the committee by saying, "If you do not grant my degree, I will commit suicide and my epitaph shall say, "" :D

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  2. Lol...interesting! And here I thought theses began with a definition. My Masters one began with the definition of intelligence =P

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  3. Those are some cool quotes. Liked the
    1. “I've put my heart and soul into this work....and lost my mind in the process.”
    2. “This thesis will not solve the problem of world hunger ... but it will for me at least.”
    3. And the last one... LOL! :D

    Let us know, which one you finally chose for your thesis. All the very best! :)

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  4. Really? didn't know that!

    Hmm...Guess that will land me a long sentence in the psychiatry ward instead of a Phd. Nah, i will pass that one too. No offense. :)

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  5. Oh well, the actual text will begin with some motivation/definitions (depending on how focus the thesis is) but the thesis it self usually begins with a quotation, at least here in US. I think I began my MTech thesis with a quote too..

    Hmm..definition of intelligence. That sounds interesting. Is there a definition of genius too?

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  6. Hehehe..I was rolling with laughter when I read them and I HAD to share them. I have at the moment abandon that search but have to come back to that one soon..The submission date is almost here...

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