Tracing Quotations
Alan Kay? Andy Hertzfeld? Michael Eisner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The Roman numeral system is powerful enough to express numbers such as 1776 (MDCCLXXVI), but the system is terrible for performing arithmetic operations such as division. A fresh perspective is required. A positional system such as the decimal numeral system is dramatically superior for …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Point of View Is Worth 80 IQ Points”
Creator: David Ogilvy, influential advertising executive who founded the top firm Ogilvy & Mather Context: In 1963 Ogilvy published the best-seller “Confessions of an Advertising Man” which included the following advice: Never Write an Advertisement Which You Wouldn’t Want Your Own Family To Read. You wouldn’t tell lies to your own wife. Don’t tell them …
Malcolm X? Oprah Winfrey? Haitian Proverb? Portuguese Proverb? Henry Rich? Thomas Fuller? Thomas Dunn English? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: While pursuing an objective one may make errors and suffer setbacks, but these impediments to progress are not insurmountable. Here are two versions of an analogical proverb offering encouragement: This saying has been attributed to …
Marilyn Monroe? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Glamourous movie icon Marilyn Monroe apparently expressed misgivings about her sex symbol status because she did not wish to be viewed simply as a thing. Would you please help me to find a citation for her remarks on this topic? Reply from Quote Investigator: “LIFE” magazine Associate Editor …
Lord Melbourne? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I once saw a proverb stating that one should not ignore a book simply because the author is a foolish person. Are you familiar with this proverb of encouragement for many writers? Reply from Quote Investigator: Lord Melbourne (William Lamb) served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom …
Calvin Coolidge? E. E. Whiting? Harold Schoelkopf? Styles Bridges? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: President Calvin Coolidge was once told that a U.S. Senator was an S.O.B. He replied with a comical and wistful statement about group representation within a democracy. Would you please explore this anecdote? Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located …
Creator: Geoffrey Hinton, leading researcher in machine learning and artificial neural networks Context: In 2014 “Wired” magazine published a profile of Hinton titled “Meet the Man Google Hired to Make AI a Reality”. AI means artificial intelligence. The article discussed the recent sea change in AI research. The term “deep learning” refers to techniques using …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: We Ceased To Be the Lunatic Fringe. We’re Now the Lunatic Core”
Quotation 01: Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone opts for the latter. Quotation 02: Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof. Creator: John …
Dorothy Parker? Margaret Irwin? Kingsley Martin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The writers, artists, and intellectuals of the Bloomsbury Group formed complex and shifting intimate relationships. A wit once said: They lived in squares and loved in triangles. The geometric wordplay referred to the residences of the group. For example, Leonard and Virginia Woolf lived …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: All the Couples Were Triangles and Lived in Squares”
Creator: George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright and critic Context: Shaw’s play “The Doctor’s Dilemma” was first staged in London in 1906. In 1911 Shaw published the text of drama together with a lengthy preface which included the following passage. Emphasis added: Attention and activity lead to mistakes as well as to successes; but a life …