Tracing Quotations
Hebrew Proverb? Turkish Proverb? Kimberly Joyce Pollock? Wafula Chebukati? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular allegory suggests that people are unable to distinguish between allies and adversaries: The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe. The axe was clever and convinced the trees that since his handle was made of …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Trees Voted for the Axe Because the Axe Handle Was Made of Wood”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? Anatoly Ilyich Fastenko? Alexander Pushkin? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A political activist once indicated that standing up for the truth was nothing, whereas sitting in jail for the truth reflected genuine commitment. I do not recall the precise phrasing. This notion has been attributed to Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, but I have …
John Maynard Keynes? Bertrand Russell? Herman Kahn? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The ongoing developments in artificial intelligence and robotics remind me of a remark attributed to the famous English economist John Maynard Keynes. Apparently, he predicted that technological advancements would allow society to adapt a fifteen-hour work week. Would you please help me to find …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: People Will Only Work Fifteen Hours a Week In the Future”
Eddie Cantor? Hedda Hopper? Milton Berle? Johnny Desmond? Army Archerd? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Years of hard work performed in obscurity are usually required before achieving fame. A humorously contradictory saying reflects this viewpoint. Here are three versions: (1) It took me five years to become an overnight success.(2) It took her ten years …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: It Takes Twenty Years To Become an Overnight Success”
Mark Twain? Will Rogers? Tom Sims? Arthur Godfrey? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: You must stay active and alert to have a fulfilling life. Two famous U.S. humorists, Mark Twain and Will Rogers, have been credited with the following remark: Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit …
Soren Kierkegaard? Carl Rogers? John Rowan? Howard Sasportas? Walter Lowrie? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Unhappy people often feel compelled to wear a social mask and to live inauthentic lives. Danish theologian and existentialist philosopher Soren Kierkegaard has been credited with the following remark: The most common form of despair is not being who you …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Most Common Form of Despair Is Not Being Who You Are”
Tyler Cowen? Dwarkesh Patel? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Several newspapers including “The New York Times”, “The Chicago Tribune”, and “The Orlando Sentinel” have sued OpenAI and Microsoft. The newspapers have claimed that the companies trained their artificial intelligence (AI) systems on millions of copyrighted articles without permission. This protectiveness is understandable, but the influential …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: You’re an Idiot If You’re Not Writing for the AIs”
David Lynch? Margaret Atwood? Jacob Riis? Grant E. Hamilton? Wendy Wasserstein? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following saying encourages an optimistic focus on what matters in life: Keep your eye on the doughnut, not the hole. The influential U.S. movie director David Lynch and the prominent Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood have both employed this …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Keep Your Eye On the Doughnut, Not the Hole”
Isabel Allende? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Children are independent beings who cannot be rigidly controlled by the expectations and desires of parents. Children need unconditional love. The prominent Chilean-American writer Isabel Allende once made this point while comparing children with trees. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: …
Alex Blechman? Ray Bradbury? Neal Stephenson? Mark Zuckerberg? Abe Murray? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Science fiction is filled with cautionary fables and dystopian visions such as the murderous HAL 9000 computer of the movie “2001”, the relentless T-800 robot of the movie “The Terminator”, the disorienting cyberspace of the short story “Burning Chrome” by William …