Tracing Quotations
Paul Valéry? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following appeared as an epigraph to an article I saw recently: Serious-minded people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious. The words were attributed to the French poet and commentator Paul Valéry. I am not sure precisely what the remark means. Would you please help me …
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G. K. Chesterton? Hugh Gesshugh? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The Thanksgiving season reminds me of a notion that I have seen expressed in three different ways: Instead of taking things for granted, we should take them with gratitude. We must learn to take things with gratitude instead of taking them for granted. When it comes …
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Darryl F. Zanuck? Anonymous Movie Mogul? Gabe Essoe? San Franciscan? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Movie industry people felt threatened by the advent of televised entertainment. Yet, early television consoles were expensive devices housed in bulky wooden cabinets with small screens that displayed only flickering black and white images. Apparently, a skeptical movie tycoon said: People …
Continue reading “People Soon Get Tired of Staring at a Plywood Box Every Night”
Mark Twain? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Recently, I encountered an insightful quotation about courage attributed to Mark Twain that I had not seen before: Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, and not the absence of fear. Is this a genuine Twain quotation? Where did it appear? Quote Investigator: In December 1893 Mark Twain …
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Kurt Vonnegut? Larry L. King? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The quotations and misquotations discussed on this website have typically been attributed to famous people. My inquiry is different. I would like you to explore a ubiquitous quotation describing a famous person. The prominent satirist and science fiction author Kurt Vonnegut has been called a laughing …
Continue reading “Kurt Vonnegut Is a Laughing Prophet of Doom”
Tom Stoppard? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The world of social media highlights upvotes, shares, and retweets. Many marketers, influencers, and politicians adhere to the following axiom: It’s better to be quotable than honest. Would you please explore the provenance of this expression? Quote Investigator: British playwright Tom Stoppard has earned an Academy Award and four …
Erica Jong? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Humor is a helpful tool for understanding and accepting events that are difficult to process emotionally such as divorce or death. I think the U.S. novelist Erica Jong made an observation similar to this. Would you please help me to locate her comment? Quote Investigator: In 1984 Erica Jong …
William Ralph Inge? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Every day brings a new social media uproar. I am reminded of the apothegmatic claim that public opinion is an anonymous tyrant. Would you please explore the provenance of this saying? Quote Investigator: The influential British commentator William Ralph Inge was the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in …
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Margaret Atwood? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Foolish actions can lead to disastrous results. It is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between the actions of a stupid individual versus a malevolent individual. The prominent Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood once made a statement of this type. Would you please help me to find it? Quote Investigator: …
Continue reading “Stupidity Is the Same as Evil If You Judge by the Results”
Arthur C. Clarke? Gerard K. O’Neill? Apocryphal Dear Quote Investigator: The famous science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke was optimistic concerning the ability of human ingenuity to transcend current limitations. He believed that future technologies would overcome raw material shortages. The only constraint he feared was a lack of engaged human brains. Would you please …