Edgar Allan Poe? Poe? Anne D. Danielewski? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Edgar Allan Poe authored groundbreaking tales in three different genres: horror, mystery, and science fiction. Numerous websites attribute the following emotion-laden passage to the literary master: Sometimes I’m terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants; the way …
Yearly Archives: 2015
We Are Too Prone to Judge Ourselves by Our Ideals and Other People by Their Acts
Dwight Morrow? Harold Nicolson? Harold Nicholson? William Nevins? Tryon Edwards? Edward Wigglesworth? Stephen R. Covey? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a pervasive problem in human psychology of a self-serving double-standard that can be stated as follows: We judge ourselves by our ideals, but we judge others by their actions. This remark has been attributed to …
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We Judge Ourselves by What We Feel Capable of Doing, While Others Judge Us by What We Have Already Done
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow? William Nevins? Stephen M. R. Covey? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The way we judge ourselves often differs markedly from the way others judge us. We tend to evaluate ourselves based on what we are capable of doing, or what we intend to do, or what we say we will do. However, no …
He Who Laughs, Lasts
Mary Pettibone Poole? W. E. Nesom? George F. Worts? H. L. Mencken? Joe Laurie Jr.? Franklin P. Adams? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a famous proverb that asserts the last person to laugh is the person who laughs the best or the longest. I am interested in a cleverly modified statement emphasizing the connection …
To Fulfill a Dream, To Be Allowed to Sweat over Lovely Labor, To Be Given the Chance To Create, Is the Meat and Potatoes of Life. The Money Is the Gravy
Bette Davis? Richard Branson? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: In 2014 Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of the Virgin Group, wrote an essay discussing some of his favorite quotations. One motivational remark about creating and fulfilling a dream was attributed to the Hollywood star Bette Davis.[1]Website: Virgin Group, Article title: My three favourite quotes on imagination, …
My Ancestors Didn’t Come Over on the Mayflower. They Were Just Standing There When It Docked
Will Rogers? J. J. Swartz? Owen Davis? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The enormously popular American humorist Will Rogers had some ancestors who were Cherokee Indians, and apparently one of his jokes was about his forebears and the early European colonists who arrived on the Mayflower. Are you familiar with this quip? Was it really spoken …
Good Girls Keep Diaries; Bad Girls Don’t Have the Time
Tallulah Bankhead? Herb Stein? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: You have previously examined a quotation attributed to the movie star Tallulah Bankhead. Perhaps you would be willing to look at another quip. Here are two versions: 1) Only good girls keep diaries. Bad girls don’t have time. 2) It’s the good girls who keep diaries; the …
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Every Child Is an Artist. The Problem Is How to Remain an Artist Once He or She Grows Up
John Lennon? Pablo Picasso? Carleton Noyes? Percy Mackaye? Dudley Crafts Watson? Agnes Snyder? Ricky Gervais? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: When a child is supplied with paint, clay, paper, and scissors he or she will experiment and construct images and figures. The artistic impulse is strong in the early years of life, but sadly it is …
Quote Origin: The Best Lack All Conviction While the Worst Are Full of Passionate Intensity
William Butler Yeats? Bertrand Russell? Charles Bukowski? Question for Quote Investigator: Have you ever been absolutely certain about a fact and later determined that you were completely wrong? If you learn from that experience you become less arrogant and more empathetic. I wish more people would achieve this form of personal growth. Here are three …
Quote Origin: The Most Exciting Phrase in Science Is Not ‘Eureka!’ But ‘That’s Funny’
Isaac Asimov? Gordon Rattray Taylor? Alexander Fleming? Archimedes? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous phrase uttered by an inventor or scientist when making a major discovery is “Eureka!” That was the cry of the ancient Greek sage Archimedes. Yet, a clever contrarian has asserted that the remark preceding a breakthrough reflects surprise and uncertainty …