Voltaire? Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan? Desmond MacCarthy? Sissela Bok? Joseph Wood Krutch? Norman L. Torrey? Marvin Lowenthal? Henry Hazlitt? Richard Dawkins? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A system that forces people to embrace absurd beliefs causes damage to their processes of rational thought. These impaired people are more likely to act illogically and destructively. With encouragement they …
Yearly Archives: 2021
Quote Origin: There Is No Other Career . . . Which Would Have Interfered Less With My Drinking
Hugh Garner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A Canadian author once praised the writing profession because it “interfered less with my drinking”. Would you please help me to identify this author and find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: Writer Hugh Garner is best known for the Depression-era novel “Cabbagetown”. He won the Governor General’s …
Quote Origin: Many People Die at Twenty-Five and Aren’t Buried Until They Are Seventy-Five
Benjamin Franklin? George S. Patton? G. E. Marchand? Gertrude Nelson Andrews? Nicholas Murray Butler? George Lawton? Peter McWilliams? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Living fully during each day of one’s allotted time in this world is an admirable goal, yet few achieve this objective. Here are two versions of a humorous and melancholy comment often …
Quote Origin: Deep Truths Are Statements in Which the Opposite Also Contains Deep Truth
Niels Bohr? Hans Bohr? Werner Heisenberg? Oscar Wilde? Emilio Segrè? Carl Sagan? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous scientist once asserted something like this: The opposite of a deep truth is another deep truth. Would you please help me to find a citation and the correct phrasing? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1949 the …
Quote Origin: A Truth in Art Is That Whose Contradictory Is Also True
Oscar Wilde? Niels Bohr? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Sometimes a narrow logical analysis is not enough to understand a topic. In the realm of art, the negation of a truth may yield another truth. The famous wit Oscar Wilde once made a claim of this type. Would you please help me to find a …
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Quote Origin: In the Lingo, This Imaginary Place Is Known as the Metaverse
Mark Zuckerberg? Neal Stephenson? William Gibson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company was changing its name to Meta (full name Meta Platforms). Zuckerberg spoke about an immersive internet called the metaverse. I think some science fiction (SF) author coined the term metaverse. Would you please explore this …
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Quote Origin: Thank Goodness We Don’t Get As Much Government As We Pay For
Will Rogers? Charles F. Kettering? Max Denney? Thomas Jefferson? Robert Heinlein? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Many complain about the burdensome taxes collected by some governments. Many also complain about the counter-productive and wasteful actions taken by those governments. These criticisms have been combined to produce the following comical remark: Thank heavens we don’t get …
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Quote Origin: If Your Mother Says She Loves You, Check On It
Edward H. Eulenberg? Arnold A. Dornfeld? Rolfe Neill? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Journalism is a difficult profession. Major stories are often complex and ill-defined. Witnesses and experts may be self-interested and unreliable. The following motto for reporters highlights the need to double-check every bit of information: If your mother tells you she loves you, …
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Quote Origin: Competitions Are for Horses, Not for Artists
Béla Bartók? Joseph Szigeti? Nick Cave? A. M. Rosenthal? Joe Eszterhas? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Competitions are commonplace in the world of athletics, academics, arts, and business. The acclaimed Hungarian composer Béla Bartók apparently expressed opposition to high-stakes contests in the domain of music. Here are four English versions of his remark: (1) Competitions …
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Quote Origin: I Am Dying, As I Have Lived, Beyond My Means
Oscar Wilde? Robert Ross? Frank Harris? Hesketh Pearson? Josiah Flynt? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: According to legend, Oscar Wilde was resting with his eyes closed on his deathbed when two physicians began discussing the necessity of a very expensive operation to extend his life. Wilde opened his eyes and said: I suppose that I …
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