Jerry Garcia? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Celebrities often use their charisma to highlight social or environmental movements. The prominent guitarist Jerry Garcia of “The Grateful Dead” rock band advocated for the preservation of the world’s rain forests, and he apparently spoke with a mixture of candor, humility, and sadness about his involvement: Someone has …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: In Etymology Vowels Count for Nothing and Consonants for Very Little
Voltaire? Antoine Court de Gébelin? Louis de Bonald? Edward Moor? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) has often received credit for a humorous remark about the study of language and its evolution. Here are two versions: Would you please explore this topic? Reply from Quote Investigator: Numerous researchers have been unable to find …
Quote Origin: No One Wants a Drill. What They Want Is the Hole
Clayton M. Christensen? Theodore Levitt? L. E. ‘Doc’ Hobbs? Percy H. Whiting? Leo McGivena? Robert G. Seymour? Zig Ziglar? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Companies sell products to solve the problems that their customers encounter. An emphasis on existing products and incremental changes causes an organization to ignore or misunderstand customer motivations. Here is one …
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Quote Origin: Fires Can’t Be Made with Dead Embers, Nor Can Enthusiasm Be Stirred by Spiritless Men
James Baldwin? James Mark Baldwin? Stanley Baldwin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a quotation that begins with an assertion that fires cannot be made with dead embers. The quotation has often been credited to U.S. writer James Baldwin, but I haven’t been able to find a solid citation. Would you please explore this …
Quote Origin: The Only Trouble With Coolidge Is That He Was Weaned on a Pickle
Alice Roosevelt Longworth? Bettina Borrmann Wells? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Alice Roosevelt Longworth was the daughter of Theodore Roosevelt and the wife of politician Nicholas Longworth III. For decades she was a well-known socialite in Washington D.C. who experienced praise and condemnation for her sharp wit which was sometimes caustic. Calvin Coolidge who …
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Quote Origin: Kites Rise Against and Not With the Wind. Even a Head Wind Is Better than None
Winston Churchill? Henry Ford? John Neal? Henry W. Davis? Chinese Proverb? Lewis Mumford? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: An individual who faces opposition can grow in strength and resilience. This notion has been brilliantly expressed via a metaphorical kite in the wind. Here are three versions: There is also a thematically related saying about an …
Quote Origin: When It Sounds Good, It Is Good
Duke Ellington? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There is an enormous literature dedicated to critiquing music using sophisticated methodologies. Yet, one famous musician had the confidence to advocate an aesthetic viewpoint based on direct experience and organic reaction: When it sounds good, it is good. Duke Ellington (Edward Kennedy Ellington) has received credit for this …
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Quote Origin: Oh—You’re the Man Who Can’t Spell
Dorothy Parker? Tallulah Bankhead? Edith Gwynn? Roy Blount Jr.? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The 1948 war novel “The Naked and the Dead” by Norman Mailer employed the euphemism “fug” (“fugged”, “fugging”) instead of the four-letter word for intercourse. According to a popular literary legend, a witty woman who was introduced to Mailer shortly after …
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Quote Origin: One Hand Extended Into the Universe and One Hand Extended Into the World
Albert Einstein? Christina Baldwin? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a quotation about art attributed to the famous scientist Albert Einstein which describes a person extending a hand into the universe and acting as a “conduit for passing energy”. I am skeptical of this ascription because I have been unable to find a citation. …
Joke Origin: The Optimist Who Fell from a Tall Building Said While Passing Each Story “All’s Well So Far”
Otto von Bismarck? Heinrich von Poschinger? Léon Gambetta? General Booth-Tucker? W. B. Bonnifield? Herbert S. Bigelow? S. E. Kiser? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: According to a comical legend, a positive thinker accidentally fell from the roof of a skyscraper. While passing each story on the way down, this optimistic person happily remarked, “Everything is …