His quote was actually wrong. The cuckoo clock was invented in Germany.
Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar, and / or doesn't.

the swiss make great cheese too.
Season's greetings!

Too late. Your fate is sealed. You are evil and must be destroyed (all seriousness aside).

not every day mind you (-:

Then we must be enemies. You are the enemy of all true pasta and meatball lovers everywhere.

and I like Swedish meatballs! that's rightI said it! in fact I LOVE them! I don't care where they come from! gimme more!! chop suey on the other hand.:-P

Who cares? I
like
cuckoo clocks!

Do you think their lack of artistic success can have anything to do with embracing peace and brotherly love or is it just a numbers thing.
You know I'm thinking about hristianity along those lines. Arguably without it we could've have seen the declione of 'civilization' at certain times in history. Harry of course ignored that line of view and rather simply juxtaposed 'cuckoo clocks' against the great works of art in his argument. Comes off ridiculous which is what he wanted. Harry the old boy was a nice fabricator;-)

There's more than an element of truth to it.
For one thing, trade promotes the exchange of ideas. For another, competitive trade and war inspire innovation; both represent a form of creative/destructive play. Conversely, complacency and parochialism are the enemies of creativity, offering few incentives to create and strive after something better. If Switzerland hadn't gotten a boost from Nazi gold during and after WWII, it would barely register in our conscious minds at all, except as a quaint travel destination for harried tourists seeking alpine bliss.
To those who object to this, remember that Switzerland went from a predominantly rural country to an urban one in less than three quarters of a century, a period of time that coincided with the Nazi rise to power

Actually, two of Twain's children, a young son and an adult daughter, predeceased him. Their deaths embittered him greatly. "The Mysterious Stranger," one of his last works, reflected his bitterness, sorrow, and anger. Of course every human being knows some grief in his or her life, but thankfully, most of us don't outlive our children anymore.

Except for battling disease as did many of their non-artistic contemporaries, I'm not sure I'd call Mark Twain, H. G. Wells, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and George Gerschwin tortured artists.