Tracing Quotations
Benjamin Franklin? Confucius? Xunzi? Hsüntze? Native American Saying? Shuo Yuan? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following tripartite expression encapsulates an influential approach to education: Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn. The U.S. statesman Benjamin Franklin and the Chinese philosopher Confucius have both received credit for these …
Continue reading “Tell Me and I Forget; Teach Me and I May Remember; Involve Me and I Learn”
Friedrich Nietzsche? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A fatigued philosopher may forgetfully return to previous ideas. The worn out thinker may fruitlessly reexamine notions that were rightfully rejected in the past. The famous German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has received credit for the following remark: When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long …
Continue reading “When We Are Tired, We Are Attacked by Ideas We Conquered Long Ago”
Mark Twain? Clara Clemens? Justin Kaplan? Harlan Ellison? Darrell Schweitzer? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Famous author Mark Twain was grief-stricken when his daughter Susy died at age 24. The following expression of bitter despair has been ascribed to him: If there is a God, he is a malign thug. Oddly, no one has presented a …
James Watson? Holly Hunter? James L. Brooks? Steven R. Craig? Michael Dell? Ed Burns? Orlando Taylor? Selena Gomez? Taylor Swift? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The molecular biologist James Watson earned a Nobel Prize as a member of the team that elucidated the helical structure of DNA. He did not claim to be uniquely brilliant; instead, …
Continue reading “Never Be the Brightest Person in the Room; Then You Can’t Learn Anything”
Mark Twain? Biblical Proverb? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Conflict on social media is now endemic, but it is not really new. Acrimonious exchanges between participants during the primeval days of online forums were known as “flame wars”. Famed humorist Mark Twain has received credit for a germane cautionary remark: Never argue with a fool; …
Continue reading “Never Argue With a Fool, Onlookers May Not Be Able To Tell the Difference”
John Lennon? Roland Orzabal? Nicky Holland? Tears for Fears? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous songwriter and musician John Lennon has received credit for the following lines: Love is a promise Love is a souvenir Once given Never forgotten, never let it disappear My mother who is very knowledgeable about the Beatles says that these are …
William Ralph Inge? Fulton J. Sheen? Leonard Cohen? Charles Haddon Spurgeon? E. Luccock? Joseph R. Sizoo? Dear Quote Investigator: Any organization that aspires to multi-generational longevity must not become enmeshed in evanescent enthusiasms and fashions. Long-term steadiness and perspective are required. Here are two pertinent sayings: If you marry the spirit of your age, you …
Continue reading “If You Marry the Spirit of Your Own Generation You Will Be a Widow in the Next”
Wilson Mizner? Samuel Thomas Hauser? Edward O. Wolcott? Silver Dick? Anonymous? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A self-satisfied gambler once approached a poker table and asked to join the game. The dealer shook his head while saying, “This game is probably too big for you”. The irritated gambler placed ten large denomination bills on the table. …
Fanny Brice? Alice Roosevelt Longworth? Beatrice Lillie? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Giving birth to a child is an intense physical ordeal. A witty woman employed the following simile: Having a baby is like trying to push a grand piano through a transom. This remark has been attributed to the prominent Washington socialite Alice Roosevelt Longworth …
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Quotation Said By: David Lloyd George? Douglas Haig? Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook? Susan Riley? Alan Walters? Barb Aimed At: Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby? John Turner? John Major? Dear Quote Investigator: The opinions and responses of some people are easily swayed by domineering individuals with emphatic goals. Suggestable people may shift viewpoints repeatedly. …
Continue reading “Like the Feather Pillow, He Bears the Marks of the Last Person Who Has Sat on Him”