Tracing Quotations
Thomas Jefferson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A large number of the quotations attributed to Thomas Jefferson are apocryphal; hence, I have learned to be cautious. Do you know whether the following remark is from the pen of Jefferson? Honesty is the first chapter of the book wisdom. Any help would be appreciated. Reply from …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Honesty Is the 1st Chapter in the Book of Wisdom”
James Thurber? Jane Austen? Charles Caleb Colton? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Many are familiar with the following adage which encourages aggregation: There is safety in numbers. Yet, I recall reading a short acerbic tale that presented an inverted moral of this type: There is no safety in numbers, or anything else. Would you please …
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William Osler? Caleb Hillier Parry? Henry George Plimmer? Woods Hutchinson? Walter Moxon? Albert Abrams? Hippocrates? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: In medicine it is crucial to identify the disease that afflicts the patient, but that is only one part of the full assessment. Determining the best treatment requires a careful examination of the history and …
Alfred Hitchcock? George Bernard Shaw? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Enthusiastic critics treat films as elevated objects of art, but the famous director Alfred Hitchcock once insightfully remarked on the pragmatic limitations placed on commercial movies by human biology. He stated that the proper length of a film was dependent on the endurance of the …
David Rowland? Dale Dauten? Art Weinstein? William C. Johnson? Sun Microsystems? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Attempting something new and innovative is crucial to success in many fields, but triumph is not guaranteed. An unfamiliar or unusual strategy may fail. Designers have advanced the following adage: Different isn’t always better, but better is always different. …
Zora Neale Hurston? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Futurists use the horizon metaphorically to help explain the limits of prediction. As one approaches the horizon, more of the world becomes visible, but there are always vast regions that remain invisible because they are beyond the horizon. I think the Harlem Renaissance author Zora Neale Hurston …
Winston Churchill? Samuel Johnson? James Boswell? Aristotle? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The rights and freedoms enshrined in political documents are sometimes nullified by oppressive governments. The health of a society depends on the principles and the bravery of the populace. Here is a pertinent adage: Courage is the first of human qualities because it …
Isaac Asimov? Harold Coffin? Unitarian Church Bulletin? Robert Reisner? Joey Adams? Milton Berle? Robert K. Mueller? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Know-it-alls are eager to assert their expertise on all subjects. I love the following comical reaction to grandiose egotism: Those who believe they know everything are a great nuisance to those of us who …
Kenneth Boulding? Paul Ehrlich? David Attenborough? Mancur Olson? Wayne H. Davis? Jay W. Forrester? John S. Steinhart? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Population size, energy use, and gross domestic product (GDP) have grown exponentially for limited time periods within some nations; however, these trends are complex. Economies sometimes shrink; per-capita energy use sometimes declines; human …
Charles Schulz? Lucy van Pelt? Linus van Pelt? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently, while watching videos presenting art tutorials online I was amazed at the quality of rapidly created drawings. Yet, I was reminded of a “Peanuts” comic strip from decades ago that claimed a genuine artwork cannot be created in less than one …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: A True Work of Art Takes at Least an Hour”