Some people see a partial eclipse and wonder why others talk so much about a total eclipse. Seeing a partial eclipse and saying that you have seen an eclipse is like standing outside an opera house and saying that you have seen the opera; in both cases, you have missed the main event.

In: Donald H. Menzel and Jay M. Pasachoff - A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets (2nd edition, revised and - enlarged) (p. 409), Houghton Mifflin Company. 1983