Tracing Quotations
Fanny Brice? Fannie Hurst? Norman Katkov? Ray Stark? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Falling in love with someone occurs because of unconstrained desires and emotions. The decision is not based on clearsighted logic and rationality. In retrospect, an infatuation might seem foolish or destructive. An unhappy humorist once commented on this behavior. Here are two versions: …
Continue reading “I Never Liked the Men I Loved, and Never Loved the Men I Liked”
Arthur C. Clarke? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A famous science fiction (SF) author was fearful that nationalistic and jingoistic impulses were driving conflict on Earth and endangering the future of humankind. The author hoped that space exploration would redirect and lessen those passions. A flag flapping in the breeze is a traditional signifier of allegiance, …
Continue reading “There Is a Hopeful Symbolism in the Fact That Flags Will Not Wave in a Vacuum”
Peter Graham? Terry Carr? Avram Davidson? Barry N. Malzberg? Baird Searles? L. Sprague de Camp? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and H. G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” were milestones in the genesis and evolution of the science fiction (SF) genre. This imaginative category of literature built upon technological and other-worldly speculation …
Continue reading ““When Was the Golden Age of Science Fiction?” “Twelve””
Aldous Huxley? George Bernard Shaw? Voltaire? Andy Capp? Reg Smythe? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A dejected literary figure apparently experienced an alarming eschatological revelation: Maybe this world is another planet’s Hell. This notion has been credited to English writer Aldous Huxley who penned the classic dystopian novel “Brave New World”. Credit has also been given …
Continue reading “How Do You Know That the Earth Isn’t Some Other Planet’s Hell?”
Sydney Smith? Punch? Evan Esar? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A disagreement between two people is sometimes caused by a difference in underlying assumptions. Two individuals arguing from different premises are likely to reach different conclusions. This notion can be comically transformed via a pun on the word “premises” which can mean “assumptions” or “residences”. The …
Continue reading “They Will Never Agree. They Argue from Different Premises”
Andrew Ng? Nick Bostrom? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A top artificial intelligence (AI) researcher was asked whether he feared the possibility of malevolent superintelligent robots wreaking havoc in the near future, and he answered “No”. He illustrated his answer with the following analogy. Worrying about human overpopulation on Mars is fruitless. It is a distant and …
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Tryon Edwards? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: During one’s lifetime one may discover a truth that appears deep and beautiful. Yet, one must be willing to continuously grow and change. That supposed truth may later seem trivial or misleading. Personal development demands regular reevaluations. The transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson made a similar …
Continue reading “No Truth So Sublime But It May Be Trivial Tomorrow in the Light of New Thoughts”
Douglas Adams? Donald A. Adams? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular business adage states that providing real service to a customer requires a crucial added ingredient known as sincerity and integrity. This notion has confusingly been credited to two different people: Douglas Adams and Donald A. Adams. The first was a science fiction humorist who …
Continue reading “To Give Real Service You Must Add Something — Sincerity and Integrity”
Heinrich Heine? Claude Debussy? Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky? Richard Wagner? Leonora Schmitz? Henry R. Cleveland? Jean Sibelius? John S. Dwight? Ludwig van Beethoven? Anton Rubinstein? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The expressiveness of words is paltry in the domain of deeply felt emotions and sensations. Yet, music can resonate with these profound feelings. Here are two versions …
Heinrich Heine? Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular adage comments on the comparative expressiveness of words versus music. Here are two versions: Where words leave off, music begins Music begins where the spoken word ends Many people have been credited with this saying including the famous German poet and critic Heinrich Heine. …