Isak Dinesen? Tania Blixen? Karen Blixen? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The three best ways to overcome a difficulty are: (1) performing hard physical labor, (2) crying to achieve emotional release, or (3) visiting the ocean. The prominent author Isak Dinesen apparently crafted a lovely formulation for this advice: The cure for anything is salt …
Monthly Archives: May 2018
Quote Origin: Point of View Is Worth 80 IQ Points
Alan Kay? Andy Hertzfeld? Michael Eisner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The Roman numeral system is powerful enough to express numbers such as 1776 (MDCCLXXVI), but the system is terrible for performing arithmetic operations such as division. A fresh perspective is required. A positional system such as the decimal numeral system is dramatically superior for …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Point of View Is Worth 80 IQ Points”
Quote Origin: Never Write an Advertisement Which You Wouldn’t Want Your Own Family To Read
Creator: David Ogilvy, influential advertising executive who founded the top firm Ogilvy & Mather Context: In 1963 Ogilvy published the best-seller “Confessions of an Advertising Man” which included the following advice: Never Write an Advertisement Which You Wouldn’t Want Your Own Family To Read. You wouldn’t tell lies to your own wife. Don’t tell them …
Quote Origin: A Stumble Is Not a Fall
Malcolm X? Oprah Winfrey? Haitian Proverb? Portuguese Proverb? Henry Rich? Thomas Fuller? Thomas Dunn English? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: While pursuing an objective one may make errors and suffer setbacks, but these impediments to progress are not insurmountable. Here are two versions of an analogical proverb offering encouragement: This saying has been attributed to …
Quote Origin: That’s the Trouble, a Sex Symbol Becomes a Thing. I Just Hate To Be a Thing
Marilyn Monroe? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Glamourous movie icon Marilyn Monroe apparently expressed misgivings about her sex symbol status because she did not wish to be viewed simply as a thing. Would you please help me to find a citation for her remarks on this topic? Reply from Quote Investigator: “LIFE” magazine Associate Editor …
Quote Origin: Never Disregard a Book Because the Author of It Is a Ridiculous Fellow
Lord Melbourne? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I once saw a proverb stating that one should not ignore a book simply because the author is a foolish person. Are you familiar with this proverb of encouragement for many writers? Reply from Quote Investigator: Lord Melbourne (William Lamb) served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom …
Quote Origin: I Guess There Are Enough of Them in the Country So They’re Entitled To Representation
Calvin Coolidge? E. E. Whiting? Harold Schoelkopf? Styles Bridges? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: President Calvin Coolidge was once told that a U.S. Senator was an S.O.B. He replied with a comical and wistful statement about group representation within a democracy. Would you please explore this anecdote? Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located …
Quote Origin: We Ceased To Be the Lunatic Fringe. We’re Now the Lunatic Core
Creator: Geoffrey Hinton, leading researcher in machine learning and artificial neural networks Context: In 2014 “Wired” magazine published a profile of Hinton titled “Meet the Man Google Hired to Make AI a Reality”. AI means artificial intelligence. The article discussed the recent sea change in AI research. The term “deep learning” refers to techniques using …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: We Ceased To Be the Lunatic Fringe. We’re Now the Lunatic Core”
Quote Origin: Faced With the Choice Between Changing One’s Mind and Proving That There Is No Need To Do So, Almost Everyone Gets Busy On the Proof
Quotation 01: Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone opts for the latter. Quotation 02: Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof. Creator: John …
Quote Origin: All the Couples Were Triangles and Lived in Squares
Dorothy Parker? Margaret Irwin? Kingsley Martin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The writers, artists, and intellectuals of the Bloomsbury Group formed complex and shifting intimate relationships. A wit once said: They lived in squares and loved in triangles. The geometric wordplay referred to the residences of the group. For example, Leonard and Virginia Woolf lived …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: All the Couples Were Triangles and Lived in Squares”