William F. Buckley Jr.? William Schlamm? Winston Churchill? Herbert Hoover? Dear Quote Investigator: I have heard a humorous saying that compares two major economic systems: The problem with socialism is socialism. The problem with capitalism is capitalists. These words have been attributed to conservative commentator William F Buckley Jr. and British statesman Winston Churchill. Would …
Monthly Archives: June 2016
The Only Trouble with Capitalism Is Capitalists. They’re Too Damned Greedy
Herbert Hoover? Mark Sullivan Jr.? Harold G. Moulton? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: U.S. President Herbert Hoover perceived the dangers of stock market speculation in the late 1920s and tried unsuccessfully to convince the Governor of New York to introduce regulations. After the Wall Street Crash in October 1929 he supposedly reacted bitterly: The only trouble …
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Quote Origin: We Shape Our Tools, and Thereafter Our Tools Shape Us
Marshall McLuhan? Winston Churchill? Henry David Thoreau? Robert Flaherty? Emerson Brown? John Culkin? William J. Mitchell? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous media theorist Marshall McLuhan has been credited with a brilliant adage about the co-evolution of humans and tools. Here are two versions: I have not been able to find a good citation. Would …
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Beer/Wine Is Proof that God Loves Us and Wants Us To Be Happy
Benjamin Franklin? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The renowned statesman and scientist Benjamin Franklin has been credited with two variant statements about alcohol: 1) Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. 2) Wine is constant proof that God loves us and likes to see us happy. I am skeptical because …
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Two Most Important Days in Your Life: The Day You Were Born and the Day You Discover Why
Mark Twain? Ernest T. Campbell? Anita Canfield? William Barclay? William McCartney? Tim Elmore? David Wood? Dave Martin? Helen Burns? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The number of fake Mark Twain quotations grows significantly every year. I fear that a civilization of the distant future will credit Twain with authorship of every extant text. Here are two …
I Have Forgotten the Books I Have Read and the Dinners I Have Eaten, But They Both Helped Make Me
Ralph Waldo Emerson? G. B. Emerson? Charles Gordon Ames? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The well-known lecturer and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson has been credited with a provocative remark about reading and memory: I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me. I have …
I Would Rather Die of Passion than of Boredom
Vincent van Gogh? Émile Zola? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh has been credited with the following fervent statement: I would rather die of passion than of boredom. Surprisingly, this remark has also been ascribed to the prominent French novelist Émile Zola. Would you please elucidate this topic? Quote Investigator: …
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A Letter Is In Fact the Only Device for Combining Solitude and Good Company
Lord Byron? Jacques Barzun? Robert Halsband? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: On a Pinterest pin-board I saw a picture of the famous British poet Lord Byron accompanying the following quotation: Letter writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company. I would like to use this expression in an article, but I have not …
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Do Not Let Spacious Plans for a New World Divert Your Energies from Saving What Is Left of the Old
Winston Churchill? Jack Fishman? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Here is a mystifying question for you. Winston Churchill has been credited with crafting two nearly identical quotations beginning as follows: 1) Do not let specious plans … 2) Do not let spacious plans … The two expressions differed by a single word: specious/spacious. Did Churchill utter …
If You’ve Told a Child a Thousand Times, and the Child Still Has Not Learned, Then It Is Not the Child Who Is the Slow Learner
Walter Barbee? Walter Barbie? Walter Barbe? Robert Alcorn? Nancy Reese? Dear Quote Investigator: A cogent adage aimed at teachers begins with the following phrase: If you’ve told a child a thousand times and he still does not understand… The full expression concludes with a reversal of the traditional supposition and indicates that the teacher is …