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 …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: A Man Wrapped Up in Himself Makes a Very Small Bundle
Benjamin Franklin? John Ruskin? Harry Emerson Fosdick? Mae A. Byrnes? Dan Crawford? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: An individual who is self-absorbed typically experiences a diminished life and does not achieve great renown. Here are four versions of a figurative saying on this theme: This expression has been attributed to U.S. statesman Benjamin Franklin, English …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: A Man Wrapped Up in Himself Makes a Very Small Bundle”
Quote Origin: Keep Your Face Always Towards the Sunshine, and the Shadows Will Fall Behind You
Helen Keller? Walt Whitman? Charles Swain? Celia Burleigh? Lydia G. Worth? Edmund Cooke? M. B. Whitman? Maori Proverb? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular metaphorical framework equates sunlight to positive situations and shadow to unfavorable conditions. Here are two instances of an adage about maintaining an optimistic perspective: This notion has been credited to prominent …
Quote Origin: Fiction Completes Us, Mutilated Beings Burdened With the Awful Dichotomy of Having Only One Life and the Ability To Desire a Thousand
C. S. Lewis? Mario Vargas Llosa? Louis L’Amour? George R. R. Martin? Question for Quote Investigator: Although each individual is limited to a single life on Earth, he or she may vicariously experience a thousand lives via novels and movies. This notion has been expressed by some prominent writers, e.g., C. S. Lewis, Mario Vargas …
Quote Origin: A Work of Art Is Never Finished, Merely Abandoned
Paul Valéry? W. H. Auden? Anaïs Nin? Maya Deren? Jean Cocteau? Esther Kellner? Gene Fowler? Gore Vidal? Marianne Moore? George Lucas? Oscar Wilde? Question for Quote Investigator: A creative person who is absorbed with the task of generating an artwork hesitates to declare completion. Reworking and improving a piece is always a tantalizing possibility. Here …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: A Work of Art Is Never Finished, Merely Abandoned”
Quote Origin: Tell Me and I Forget; Teach Me and I May Remember; Involve Me and I Learn
Benjamin Franklin? Confucius? Xunzi? Hsüntze? Native American Saying? Shuo Yuan? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following tripartite expression encapsulates an influential approach to education: Tell me and I forget,teach me and I remember,involve me and I learn. The U.S. statesman Benjamin Franklin and the Chinese philosopher Confucius have both received credit for these words. …
Quote Origin: When We Are Tired, We Are Attacked by Ideas We Conquered Long Ago
Friedrich Nietzsche? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A fatigued philosopher may forgetfully return to previous ideas. The worn out thinker may fruitlessly reexamine notions that were rightfully rejected in the past. The famous German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has received credit for the following remark: When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: When We Are Tired, We Are Attacked by Ideas We Conquered Long Ago”
Quote Origin: If There Is a God, He Is a Malign Thug
Mark Twain? Clara Clemens? Justin Kaplan? Harlan Ellison? Darrell Schweitzer? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Famous author Mark Twain was grief-stricken when his daughter Susy died at age 24. The following expression of bitter despair has been ascribed to him: If there is a God, he is a malign thug. Oddly, no one has presented …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: If There Is a God, He Is a Malign Thug”
Quote Origin: Never Be the Brightest Person in the Room; Then You Can’t Learn Anything
James Watson? Holly Hunter? James L. Brooks? Steven R. Craig? Michael Dell? Ed Burns? Orlando Taylor? Selena Gomez? Taylor Swift? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The molecular biologist James Watson earned a Nobel Prize as a member of the team that elucidated the helical structure of DNA. He did not claim to be uniquely brilliant; …
Quote Origin: Never Argue With a Fool, Onlookers May Not Be Able To Tell the Difference
Mark Twain? Biblical Proverb? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Conflict on social media is now endemic, but it is not really new. Acrimonious exchanges between participants during the primeval days of online forums were known as “flame wars”. Famed humorist Mark Twain has received credit for a germane cautionary remark: Never argue with a …