Tracing Quotations
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”
Dorothy Parker? Jean Kerr? Charles Whitehead? Simon Suggs Jr.? Sam Stackpole? Abe Martin? Kin Hubbard? Herbert Spencer? Mort Walker? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Beauty is only skin-deep according to an adage that can be traced back to the 1600s. This assertion has inspired a wide variety of twisted reactions and elaborations. Here are three closely …
Continue reading “Beauty Is Only Skin-Deep, But Ugly Goes Clean To the Bone”
Louis Brandeis? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Robert Walter? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a family of sayings about the effectiveness of light for the destruction of noxious infectious agents. This family also includes metaphorical instances in which corrupt behavior is revealed and prevented via publicity. Here are some examples: Would you please explore this …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Sunlight Is the Best Disinfectant”
Langston Hughes? Robert Frost? Zig Ziglar? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A poem about the need to maintain aspirational dreams employed a vivid metaphor based on a bird with a damaged wing. The author was Langston Hughes or Robert Frost. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In 1932 Langston Hughes published …
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. …
Claude Debussy? Maurice Emmanuel? Léon Vallas? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Language is inadequate for conveying some deep emotions while music can arouse sensations and passions that are beyond words. Here are two versions of this sentiment: Music begins where words leave off Where words cease, music begins Many people have been credited with this adage …
Richard Wagner? Henry Russell Cleveland? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Music can express thoughts and emotions which cannot be captured by words alone according to some romantic souls. Here are two versions of this sentiment: Where all words end, music begins Music begins where language ends Many people have been credited with this adage including the …
Continue reading “Where the Speech of Man Stops Short There Music’s Reign Begins”
Lady Bird Johnson? Barbara Rowes? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The demands placed upon politicians are intense. Minimal time can be allocated for family and friends. Lady Bird Johnson who was married to U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) once made a statement similar to the following: A politician should be born an orphan and remain …
Continue reading “A Politician Ought To Be Born a Foundling and Remain a Bachelor”