Wenn ich mal gross bin, werde ich etwas schreiben über die Bedeutung von Acknowledgements für die Formung einer scientific community. Und damit meine ich nicht nur die Netze, die durch die politisch geschickte Nennung von Namen gespannt werden, sondern auch die Freude, endlich (wieder) Teil einer literarischen Tradition zu sein, endlich auch (wieder) schreiben zu können "perhaps the most pleasing part of writing longer works is getting to write this section", endlich mal seinen Charakter andeuten zu können, andeuten, wohlgemerkt ("the core idea for this book came to me when I was hunting game with the Duke of Edinburgh", "some chapters were written while on a sabbatical spent in the wonderful town of").

"A young man gets on a train and sits down next to an older man. The younger one asks, "Can you tell me the time?" and the man says "No." "What do you mean, no?" the younger one says. "If I tell you the time we will have to get into a conversation. You'll ask me where I'm going. I'll ask you where you're going. It will turn out we're going to the same place. I'll have to invite you for dinner. I have a young marriageable daughter, and I don't want my daughter to marry someone who doesn't wear a watch." Lecture 12, On Questions, Harvey Sacks.

Chérie im Neverland. Nara, Japan, 2004