Ginger Rogers? Ann Richards? Bob Thaves? Ronald Reagan? Faith Whittlesey? Liz Carpenter? Question for Quote Investigator: The U.S. entertainer Fred Astaire won high praise as a magnificent dancer. Astaire’s partner Ginger Rogers also achieved acclaim, but she did not achieve the same level of celebrity. A humorous feminist line compares the capabilities of the two: …
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Quip Origin: Nothing Is Impossible for the Person Who Doesn’t Have To Do It Himself
A. H. Weiler? Earl Wilson? Mitch Miller? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Grandiose managers brag of the monumental tasks they can accomplish. This unrealistic attitude is reflected in a quip: Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn’t have to do it himself. Newspaper editor A. H. Weiler has received credit for this joke, but …
Quote Origin: It Is Questionable If All the Mechanical Inventions Yet Made Have Lightened the Day’s Toil of Any Human Being
John Stuart Mill? Henry George? Herbert Vincent Mills? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Numerous labor-saving machines were designed and built in the nineteenth century, but a prominent political economist was unimpressed. He doubted whether these inventions had lessened the toil of anyone by even a single day. This notion has been attributed to John Stuart …
Saying Origin: Labor-Saving Devices Don’t Save Labor. They Increase It
John Stuart Mill? Henry George? H. L. Mencken? C. Palfrey? J. E. Jennings? Adam Coaldigger? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recent progress in artificial intelligence and robotics has led some to believe that work hours will shrink and leisure will grow. However, history suggests a different possibility. Brilliant inventors have created a series of remarkable …
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Saying Origin: Good Science Fiction Can Predict the Automobile; Better SF Can Predict the Drive-In Theater; The Best SF Can Predict the Resultant Sexual Revolution
Gardner Dozois? Isaac Asimov? Robert Heinlein? Cory Doctorow? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A competent science-fiction (SF) author can use the knowledge of automobiles and movie theaters to predict the creation of drive-in movie theaters. But an ingenious SF author can predict the dramatic shift in sexual behavior caused by these changes in mobility and …
Quote Origin: Go Often To the House of Thy Friend, for Weeds Choke the Unused Path
Ralph Waldo Emerson? W. Taylor? Karl Blind? Carolyne Larrington? Poetic Edda? Hávamál? Scandinavian Proverb? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A friendship endures when it is nurtured and periodically renewed. Silence and distance cause a friendship to decay. The following adage expresses this viewpoint: Go often to the house of thy friend, for weeds soon choke …
Quote Origin: If You Wish to Achieve Some Kind of Intellectual Immortality, Writing for the AIs Is Probably Your Best Chance
Tyler Cowen? Joshua Rothman? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Currently, the training of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems requires vast quantities of text, pictures, and videos. Most of this data is unlicensed. Hence, this training has become controversial, and the backlash against such systems has been growing. Numerous creators wish to exclude their creative output …
Quote Origin: If All Those Present Were Laid End to End, I Wouldn’t Be at All Surprised
Dorothy Parker? Lillian Day? Alexander Woollcott? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: U.S. poet, critic, and fiction writer Dorothy Parker was famous for her witticisms. When discussing a prom, she said something like the following: If all the young women who attended were laid end to end, I wouldn’t be at all surprised. Would you please …
Quote Origin: Economics Is the Only Field in Which Two People Can Get a Nobel Prize for Saying Exactly the Opposite Thing
Roberto Alazar? Pasi Kuoppamaki? Richard M. Scammon? Ben Wattenberg? John Kenneth Galbraith? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Economics is a complex and contentious discipline. Sharp disagreements between economists inspired the following quip: Economics is the only field in which two people can share a Nobel Prize for saying opposing things. Would you please help me …
Quote Origin: Courage Is What It Takes To Stand Up and Speak; It Is Also What It Takes To Sit Down and Listen
Winston Churchill? William Arthur Ward? Googey Bince? Carl Hermann Voss? George W. Norris? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: It takes courage to stand up and speak, but it also takes courage to sit down and listen. This notion has been attributed to U.K statesman Winston Churchill, but I have never seen a solid citation, and …