Thomas Carlyle? Benjamin Franklin? Samuel Taylor Coleridge? Johann P. F. Richter? Minna Antrim? Heinrich Heine? William Ralph Inge? Question for Quote Investigator: The most memorable and painful lessons are usually learned via direct experience, but the cost can be very high. A family of adages depict this point of view. Here are two instances: This …
Yearly Archives: 2021
Quote Origin: A Boy of Fifteen Who Is Not a Democrat is Good for Nothing, and He Is No Better Who Is a Democrat at Twenty
John Adams? Thomas Jefferson? John Ewing? John Hurt? Question for Quote Investigator: Surprisingly, one of the founding fathers of the United States was skeptical about the long-term viability of democracy. The statesman believed that the proponents of democracy were philosophically immature. He was sympathetic to a young person of fifteen who found the system attractive, …
Quote Origin: The Optimist Invents the Airplane and the Pessimist the Parachute
George Bernard Shaw? Gladys Bronwyn Stern? W. H. H. MacKellar? Gil Stern? Mack McGinnis? Question for Quote Investigator: An entertaining quip contrasts the attitudes of the dreamer and the worrier: Optimists invent airplanes; pessimists invent parachutes. This saying has been attributed to Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw and English author Gladys Bronwyn Stern. Would you …
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Quote Origin: The People Who Say They Like Poetry and Never Buy Any Are Cheap SOB’s
Kenneth Patchen? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: In the 1980s I was browsing in the poetry section of a bookshop, and I saw a sign designed to encourage purchasers. Here are two versions: People who say they love poetry but never buy any are cheap SOB’s. People who say they like poetry and don’t buy …
Quote Origin: Experience Keeps a Dear School; Yet Fools Will Learn In No Other
Benjamin Franklin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Some people are only able to learn via direct experience. They disregard the lessons and the struggles of others. Yet, this experiential approach can be quite costly. The fees incurred may be measured in time expended, energy drained, money squandered, and injuries suffered. The statesman Benjamin Franklin said …
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Quote Origin: Composing Free Verse Is Like Playing Tennis Without a Net
Robert Frost? G. K. Chesterton? Eleanor Graham Vance? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The prominent poet Robert Frost did not compose free verse. Instead, he welcomed the structural demands of rhyme and meter. To explicate his choice he used a clever and vivid simile from the domain of tennis. Would you please help me to …
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Quote Origin: The Greatest Discovery of My Generation Is That Human Beings Can Alter Their Lives By Altering Their Attitudes of Mind
William James? Harry Granison Hill? Joseph Fort Newton? Norman Vincent Peale? E. Stanley Jones? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: One’s attitude toward life has an enormous effect on one’s experiences in life. Here are two statements on this theme: (1) The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by …
Quote Origin: The Possible’s Slow Fuse Is Lit By the Imagination!
Emily Dickinson? Susan Gilbert Dickinson? Martha Dickinson Bianchi? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The ability to envision something novel and appealing is vital to the formulation and accomplishment of worthwhile goals. A robust imagination initiates the process. The poet Emily Dickinson employed the apt metaphor of lighting a fuse to express this notion. Would you …
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Quote Origin: Do Not Take Life Quite So Seriously—You Surely Will Never Get Out of It Alive
Elbert Hubbard? Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle? William J. Crawford? Walt Kelly? Pogo? Pierre Daninos? Alphonse Allais? Julien Green? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a trenchant family of fatalistic sayings concerning the solemnity of life. Here are four examples: This notion has been attributed to U.S. aphorist Elbert Hubbard and French essayist and scholar …
Quote Origin: A Man Convinced Against His Will, Is of the Same Opinion Still
Samuel Butler? John Pope? T.B.? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a family of sayings about the difficulty of compelling obedience. Here are three instances: A man convinced against his will,Is of the same opinion still. Those convinced against their will,Are of the same opinion still. He that complies against his will,Is of his …
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