Martin Luther King Jr.? Marian Wright Edelman? George Sweeting? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Famous civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. has received credit for a stimulating remark about faith. Here are two versions: (1) Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. (2) Take the first step …
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Quote Origin: Sold His Soul for a Pot of Message
Critic: Max Beerbohm? G. K. Chesterton? Hugh Walpole? C. L. Edson? Piccolo? Maurice Francis Egan? John Cournos? Sara Henderson Hay? Theodore Sturgeon? Anonymous? Person Being Criticized: H. G. Wells? John Galsworthy? William Lafayette Strong? Douglas Goldring? Margaret Halsey? Question for Quote Investigator: The Bible tells the story of Esau who made a foolishly impulsive decision …
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Quote Origin: The Secret of Business Is To Know Something That No One Else Knows
Aristotle Onassis? Lester David? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Aristotle Onassis became one of the wealthiest people in the word as he systematically accumulated the vessels of a massive private shipping fleet. He apparently shared the following nugget of wisdom about his triumphs: The secret of business is to know something that no one else …
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Quote Origin: The Very First Thing They Do Is Matriculate Together
Ralph M. Hiner? Tammany Hall politician? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: According to a legislative legend, a naïve politician with a limited vocabulary wished to provide funding for a state college; however, an adversary wanted to spend the money on a different project. The verb “matriculate” means to enroll at a college or university, …
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Quote Origin: Can’t Somebody Bring Me a One-Handed Economist?
Harry Truman? David Boyd Chase? Ben Turner? Charles E. Wilson? Charles Frederick Carter? Edwin C. Johnson? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Economists, lawyers, scientists, and other experts often provide tentative and inconclusive advice to clients. These wily advisers avoid definitive statements and employ locutions such as: on the one hand, but on the other …
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Quote Origin: I Ring It Whenever I Want an Hour of Uninterrupted Privacy
Dorothy Parker? Alexander Woollcott? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A patient in a modern hospital room can push a button to call for the help of a nurse; however, on occasion, the response time is long because nurses have many medical tasks to perform. The famous wit Dorothy Parker created a joke on this topic. …
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Quote Origin: The Artist . . . Must Drive To the Heart of Every Answer and Expose the Question the Answer Hides
James Baldwin? Salim Muwakkil? Leonard Shlain? Jeff Baysa? Edgar H. Sorrells-Adewale? Tom Barone? Alva Noë? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The commonly accepted answers to questions are sometimes flawed. Deeper and more truthful discoveries are concealed by shallow and misleading explanations. A germane assertion about the objective of art has been attributed to the prominent …
Quote Origin: The Curate’s Egg: Parts of It Are Excellent
Punch Magazine? Judy Magazine? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous one-panel comic shows a lowly curate who is visiting the house of a powerful bishop for breakfast. The bishop notices that the curate has unfortunately been served a spoiled egg, and the curate’s response is overly polite and deferential. Here are two versions: A …
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Quote Origin: What You Read When You Don’t Have To, Determines What You Will Be When You Can’t Help It
Oscar Wilde? Charles Francis Potter? Mabel C. Wolcott? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous wit Oscar Wilde was an avid reader and an excellent classicist. The following statement has been attributed to him: It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it. …
Quote Origin: We Must Get Beyond Textbooks, Go Out Into the Bypaths and Untrodden Depths of the Wilderness of Truth
John Hope Franklin? John Hope? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Educator and activist John Hope has received credit for the following statement: We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness. Confusingly, these words have also been attributed to historian and educator John Hope Franklin. Some versions use …