Charles Darwin? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Incorrect scientific hypotheses may temporarily mislead fellow scientists, but the research inspired by flawed conjectures enables further progress, and superior theories emerge over time. Faulty experimental data is more dangerous because it may persist without challenge. Here is a pertinent remark: False facts are highly injurious to the …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: Courage Is Not Having the Strength To Go On; It Is Going On When You Don’t Have the Strength
Theodore Roosevelt? Napoleon Bonaparte? Karen Grant? Ken Harris? George Grant? Karen Grant? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent leader has received credit for a definition of courage using chiasmus which emphasizes tenacity: Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength. These words have …
Quote Origin: An Oxford Man Looks as If the World Belongs to Him; a Cambridge Man Looks as If He Does Not Care to Whom the World Belongs
Mandell Creighton? James Payn? Helen Ricker Beebe? William Ralph Inge? Jack Hulbert? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Oxford and Cambridge rank among Europe’s oldest and most prestigious centers of higher learning. An oft-repeated comical statement contrasts the attitudes of the students of the two schools: Oxford people think they own the world. Cambridge people do …
Quote Origin: Everybody Talks; Nobody Listens. Good Listeners Are as Rare as White Crows
Helen Keller? Ellen Bilofsky? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Being an attentive listener is crucial to developing successful relationships. Yet, few people are willing to provide this courtesy. The activist and lecturer Helen Keller has received credit for the following remark: Everybody talks, nobody listens. Good listeners are as rare as white crows. I have …
Quote Origin: False Notion — My Ignorance Is Just as Good as Your Knowledge
Isaac Asimov? Robert Burnham Jr.? Thomas M. Nichols? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A science fiction luminary said: There is a cult of ignorance in the United States … nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” These words have been credited to Isaac Asimov. …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: False Notion — My Ignorance Is Just as Good as Your Knowledge”
Quote Origin: It Is the Supreme Art of the Teacher to Awaken Joy in Creative Expression and Knowledge
Albert Einstein? Anatole France? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous scientist has received credit for an eloquent statement about the goals of teaching. Here are two versions: (1) It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. (2) The most important art of the teacher is to …
Quote Origin: Life Is Like a Roll of Toilet Paper. The Closer It Gets to the End, the Faster It Goes
Andy Rooney? Vic Smith? Sam Patterson? Eve Watson? Jim Harvey? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Every year of childhood feels like an eon. Every year of middle age feels like six months. Every year of old age feels like a month. A folksy simile expresses this idea: Life is like a roll of toilet paper …
Quote Origin: Freedom — No Price That Is Ever Asked for It Is Half the Cost of Doing Without It
H. L. Mencken? Jo Petty? Max L. Forman? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Freedom is precious. Without continual vigilance, it disappears. Safeguarding it requires unrelenting commitment. A popular political commentator said something like the following about freedom: No price that is ever asked for it is half the cost of doing without it. This statement …
Quote Origin: Life Without Love Is Like a Sunless Garden When the Flowers Are Dead
Oscar Wilde? Harold Mellor? Francis Douglas? Percy Colson? Beverley Baxter? Question for Quote Investigator: When you are filled with love you nurture other people. The absence of love is bleak and discouraging. Here is a pertinent saying: Life without love is like a sunless garden with dead flowers. Apparently, the brilliant Irish wit Oscar Wilde …
Quote Origin: There Will Never Be a Robot, a Tireless Mechanism Performing All the Functions of a Man
Waldemar Kaempffert? G. K. Chesterton? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The ongoing progress in robotics reminds me of skeptical remarks such as the following: (1) There will never be a robot, a tireless mechanism performing all the functions of a man. (2) A robot would be brainless because even an ingenious technologist cannot make a …