Tracing Quotations
Carl Sandburg? Ralph McGill? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: It is too easy to waste time on frivolous, foolish, or self-destructive pursuits. Apparently, a prominent literary figure once equated time to a valuable coin which each person must spend wisely. Would you please help me find the correct phrasing and a citation? Reply from Quote …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Time Is the Coin of Your Life. It Is the Only Coin You Have”
Mark Twain? Caleb Thomas Winchester? Frank Norris? Otto F. Ege? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Classic works of literature are sometimes difficult or tedious to read. Apparently, a humorist once said something like the following: (1) Definition of a classic—something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read. (2) A classic is …
Milton Friedman? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Economic policies are typically promulgated and enacted with high purposes and goals, yet sometimes the results are inadvertently deleterious. A prominent economist once said: One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results. These words have been credited to …
Umberto Eco? Dery Dyer? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent intellectual once denounced social media because it amplified the voices of imbeciles who in the past only propounded their opinions at local bars after drinking. This notion has been attributed to the Italian semiotician and novelist Umberto Eco who wrote “Il Nome Della Rosa” …
Zora Neale Hurston? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A new year brings uncertainties and choices. The uncertainties will be resolved in a future year. A prominent literary figure once wrote: There are years that ask questions and years that answer. This statement has been attributed to U.S. writer Zora Neale Hurston. Would you please help …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: There Are Years That Ask Questions and Years That Answer”
Albert Einstein? Freeman Dyson? H. Dieter Zeh? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The universe can be modeled as a vast four-dimensional spacetime manifold. From this viewpoint, time does not change; instead, the universe is static and timeless. Here are four versions of a statement attributed to the famous physicist Albert Einstein: (1) The separation between …
Jean-Paul Sartre? Alan Sheridan-Smith? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The presence of an adversary makes planning more complex because the achievement of goals requires the anticipation of counter-measures. A famous philosopher once said something like the following: In football everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team. The term “football” corresponds to “soccer” …
Yip Harburg? Jay Gorney? Caryl Brahms? Ned Sherrin? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent songwriter once stated that words are used to make a person think a thought, and music is used to make a person feel a feeling, but the goal of a song is different and more powerful: A song makes you …
Carl Sagan? Lewis Thomas? Douglas Adams? Stephen Fry? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Suppose humanity decided to deliberately send a message out into space. What should be included in that message which might someday be read by a hypothetical alien civilization? In fact, the U.S. launched two robotic interstellar probes in 1977, Voyager 1 …
Herbert Spencer? G. Stanley Hall? Karl Groos? George L. Knapp? George Bernard Shaw? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Children enjoy playing, yet this rambunctious and exploratory spirit often fades with age. The following adage encourages the retention of a youthful temperament. Here are four versions: (1) People do not cease playing because they grow old, …