Tracing Quotations
Maya Angelou? Bertha Flowers? Bill Moyers? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Rhyme and rhythm often produce a lovely euphony in poems. This notion has been expressed as follows: Poetry is music written for the human voice. These words have been attributed to Renaissance woman Maya Angelou, but some people assert that she disclaimed credit. Would you …
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Albert Einstein? Jerome Halprin? Abba Eban? Leonard Lyons? Sidney Greenberg? Paul Connett? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular quip highlights the distinction between the adjectives clever and wise: A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. This notion can also be expressed as follows: A clever person gets out of a situation …
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Howard Rheingold? John Gilmore? Michael Sattler? Philip Elmer-DeWitt? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Modern communication systems are designed to distribute messages even when some connections and modules are damaged. This resilience inspired an adage in the 1990s about the suppression of information. Here are two versions: The net views censorship as damage and routes around it. …
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Howard Thurman? Gil Bailie? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: If you are an altruistic or philanthropic person you face many choices. It is natural to ask, “What does the world need?” Yet, it is essential to maintain commitment and enthusiasm. Hence, you should ask yourself what makes you come alive. This will help you decide what …
Stanley Baldwin? Rudyard Kipling? Arthur W. Baldwin? Benjamin Disraeli? Tom Stoppard? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: In the 1930s British politician Stanley Baldwin reacted with anger when he read a claim that he considered defamatory in the pages of a popular newspaper. Shortly afterward he delivered a speech accusing the U.K. press barons of wielding power …
Continue reading “Power Without Responsibility — The Prerogative of the Harlot Throughout the Ages”
Alexander McLaren? Charles Haddon Spurgeon? Ian Maclaren? Corrie ten Boom? Dear Quote Investigator: Excessive fear and worry about the future can weaken the resolve needed to thrive. Here are three versions of a pertinent saying: (1) Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength. (2) Anxiety does not …
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Philip Sheridan? H. L. Mencken? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Texas is a beloved state to many, but it also has detractors. One comical remark compares the state unfavorably to Hades: If I owned Hell and Texas, I’d rent out Texas and live in Hell. Would you please explore the provenance of this joke? Quote Investigator: …
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Robert Louis Stevenson? William Arthur Ward? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: An eloquent agricultural metaphor occurs within an astute proverb about the value of preparation and investment: Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant. The prominent Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson has received credit for this saying, but …
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George Bernard Shaw? Gladys Bronwyn Stern? W. H. H. MacKellar? Gil Stern? Mack McGinnis? Dear Quote Investigator: An entertaining quip contrasts the attitudes of the dreamer and the worrier: Optimists invent airplanes; pessimists invent parachutes. This saying has been attributed to Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw and English author Gladys Bronwyn Stern. Would you please …
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Robert Frost? G. K. Chesterton? Eleanor Graham Vance? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The prominent poet Robert Frost did not compose free verse. Instead, he welcomed the structural demands of rhyme and meter. To explicate his choice he used a clever and vivid simile from the domain of tennis. Would you please help me to find …
Continue reading “Composing Free Verse Is Like Playing Tennis Without a Net”