Creator: Ralph Waldo Emerson, prominent American essayist and transcendentalist philosopher Context: In 1836 when Emerson was 33 years old he wrote in his journal about bloody events in Spain and France. Emphasis added to excerpt: But in analysing history do not be too profound, for often the causes are quite superficial. In the present state …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: One Who Has Imagination Without Learning Has Wings Without Feet
Joseph Joubert? Matthew Arnold? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Imagination is crucial to cogitation, but it must be coupled with knowledge to achieve wholeness. Here are two versions of a germane adage: I was reminded of this saying while reading a QI analysis of a tangentially related quotation about roots and wings. Would you please …
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Quote Origin: Love Is a Sort of Divine Accident
Hugh Walpole? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Radiant love displays “depth, beauty, and joy”, but achieving this extraordinary relationship is challenging. The bestselling English novelist Hugh Walpole apparently said: It is a sort of Divine accident. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: The book “What is Happiness?” consists …
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Quote Origin: I Haven’t Got as Much Money as Some Folks, But I Have Got as Much Impudence as Any of Them, and That Is the Next Thing to Money
Creator: Josh Billings (pen name of Henry Wheeler Shaw), celebrated U.S. humorist Context: A collection of “Sayings of Josh Billings” appeared in “The Alleghanian” newspaper of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania in 1864. Billings employed phonetic spelling. Here were three of the sayings: I havn’t got as mutch muny az sum folks, but i hav got as much …
Quote Origin: An Editor Is a Person Employed on a Newspaper, Whose Business It Is To Separate the Wheat from the Chaff, and To See that the Chaff Is Printed
Creator: Elbert Hubbard, founder of New York artisan community called Roycrofters, collector and creator of adages Context: The May 1913 issue of “The Philistine: A Periodical of Protest” published by Elbert Hubbard contained a set of humorous definitions for “editor”: EDITOR: A person employed on a newspaper, whose business it is to separate the wheat …
Quote Origin: There Will Be Prayers in Our Schools as Long as There Are Final Exams
Ronald Reagan? Ashley Cooper? Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr.? David Condon? The Farmer’s Daughter? Norine Carman? Sam Levenson? Charles Rose? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The topic of prayers in schools in the U.S. has been controversial for many years. Humorists have reacted with quips such as: Apparently, U.S. President Ronald Reagan employed this joke. Would …
Quote Origin: I Had More Fun Doing News Reporting Than in Any Other Enterprise. It Is Really the Life of Kings
H. L. Mencken? Theo Lippman Jr.? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Newspaperman H. L. Mencken is famous for his insightful and acerbic commentaries, but he also spent the early years of his career as a reporter, and he looked back upon that period with fondness. Apparently, he nostalgically described reporting as “the life of kings” …
Quote Origin: Our Little Terraqueous Globe Here Is the Madhouse of Those Hundred Thousand Millions of Worlds
Voltaire? Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle? Edward Young? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous French philosopher and satirist Voltaire apparently wrote a story in which the universe consisted of millions of worlds, and Earth was designated a peculiar place: Our little globe is the lunatic ward of the universe. Would you please help me …
Quote Origin: I Fell In Love the Way You Fall Asleep: Slowly, and Then All At Once
Creator: John Green (John Michael Green), American author, vlogger, and educator. Context: John Green’s 2012 novel “The Fault in Our Stars” tells the story of two star-crossed lovers: Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters. The couple agree to read each other’s favorite novels. While Waters is reading to Lancaster from her chosen book she experiences …
Dialogue Origin: “How Did You Go Bankrupt?” “Two Ways. Gradually and Then Suddenly.”
Creator: Ernest Hemingway, U.S. author, winner of Nobel Prize in Literature Context: The character Mike Campbell in the 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises” was asked about his money troubles and responded with a vivid description embracing self-contradiction: “How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.” “What brought …