Tracing Quotations
Mark Twain? Madame de Sévigné? Madame Roland? Alphonse de Lamartine? Alphonse Toussenel? Louise de la Rameé? Alfred D’Orsay? Thomas Carlyle? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular expression combines disappointment with humanity together with praise for canines. Here are four versions: The more I see of men, the more I like dogs. The more I learn …
Continue reading “The More I Know About People, the Better I Like Dogs”
Ahmed Zaki Yamani? Don Huberts? Nader H. Sultan? Andrew Hoskinson? Jeroen van der Veer? Thomas Friedman? William McDonough? Question for Quote Investigator: A recent presentation about advances in renewable energy emphasized the dramatic cost reductions occurring in solar and wind power. The speaker argued that reliance on fossil fuels would decrease substantially in the future. …
Speaker: Julie Burchill? Elizabeth Bowen? Ezra Klein? Paul Krugman? Andrew Sullivan? Hermione Eyre? William Donaldson? Target: Stephen Fry? Aldous Huxley? Dick Armey? Newt Gingrich? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently, I heard an uncomplimentary quip applied to an intellectual. Here are three versions: Would you please help me to trace this expression? Reply from Quote Investigator: …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Stupid Person’s Idea of the Clever Person”
Johnny Carson? Kenneth Tynan? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The late-night talk-show host Johnny Carson was one of the most successful entertainers in U.S. history. He spent thirty years as the star of “The Tonight Show” on the NBC television network. Before he embraced the celebrated nocturnal hosting duties he held nine different jobs. That fact …
Frederik Pohl? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Frederik Pohl was an influential award-winning science-fiction author and editor. Apparently, Pohl’s Law states: Nothing is so good that somebody somewhere won’t hate it. Would you please examine this linkage? Quote Investigator: Multiple statements have been labeled “Pohl’s Law” over the years. In 1966 Pohl was the editor of …
Continue reading “Pohl’s Law: Nothing Is So Good that Somebody Somewhere Won’t Hate It”
Lord Palmerston? George Peacocke? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There is an anecdote about a fiendishly complex diplomatic agreement. Negotiating, signing, and comprehending the pact had sent one person to the grave, sent a second to a lunatic asylum, and left a third with memory loss. Are you familiar with this tale? Quote Investigator: This story …
W. Edwards Deming? Edwin R. Fisher? Bernard Fisher? Cecil R. Reynolds? Brian L. Joiner? Ronald D. Snee? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Would you please examine a humorous empirically-minded statement that expands upon a famous motto appearing on U.S. currency. Here are three versions: In God we trust; all others must use data. In God we …
Continue reading “In God We Trust; Others Must Provide Data”
Kenneth Kernaghan? P.K. Kuruvilla? Paul Samuelson? Edith Greene? Irwin S. Bernstein? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Each datum in a collection of data may be considered a story. Yet, it is often difficult to make rigorous conclusions based on a motley collection of anecdotes. Scientific data should be collected in a methodical manner according to a …
Raymond Wolfinger? Roger G. Noll? Richard F. Fenno Jr.? Daniel Patrick Moynihan? George Stigler? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: An anecdote is a single fact or datum. When many of these facts are combined the collection is naturally called data. Apparently, a social scientist coined the following saying: The plural of anecdote is data. Would you …
Erma Bombeck? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The popular humorist Erma Bombeck once wrote about the melancholy feelings of some Christmas celebrants when they leave childhood behind. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1967 Erma Bombeck wrote the following in her syndicated column, Emphasis added to excerpts: …