André Gide? Stuart Henry? McGeorge Bundy? Jacques de Biez? W. C. Brownell? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Many demand simple answers to tangled questions. Yet, some topics never yield straightforward black or white answers. The French Nobel prize winner André Gide supposedly made one of the following comments: The color of truth is grey. Gray is …
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The Space Elevator Will Be Built About 50 Years After Everyone Stops Laughing
Arthur C. Clarke? Arthur Kantrowitz? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Science fiction luminary Arthur C. Clarke described the audacious idea of building an elevator from the surface of the Earth straight up into space and beyond geostationary orbit in his 1979 novel “The Fountains of Paradise”. The megaproject would require extremely strong lightweight material, and some …
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There Are Always Flowers for Those Who Want To See Them
Henri Matisse? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The innovative French artist Henri Matisse reportedly wrote: There are always flowers for those who want to see them. This statement appears on countless pictures of floral arrangements, but I have been unable to find the source, and I am beginning to question its authenticity. Would you please help? …
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I Have Just One Day, Today, and I’m Going To Be Happy In It
Groucho Marx? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Reportedly, Groucho Marx once described his philosophy of life. He stated that each day he had the power to choose to be happy or unhappy, and he would select happiness. Are you familiar with his statement on this topic? Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote …
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“The Peasants Are Revolting” “You Can Say That Again”
Brant Parker? Johnny Hart? L. Frank Baum? Walt Kelly? Allan Sherman? Mel Brooks? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I vaguely recall seeing a comic strip with a clever joke based on two different senses of the word “revolting”. An advisor warned a monarch about an uprising, and he replied acerbically: Advisor: The peasants are revolting. Monarch: …
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Do Not Wait To Strike Till the Iron Is Hot; But Make It Hot By Striking
William Butler Yeats? William B. Sprague? Benjamin Franklin? Richard Sharp? Charles Lamb? Charles Caleb Colton? Oliver Cromwell? Peleg Sprague? Ernest Hemingway? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular proverb highlights the limited duration of an opportunity: Strike while the iron is hot. This metaphor has been astutely extended with advice for greater challenges: Make the iron …
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If He Found that Flower in His Hand When He Awoke — Ay! And What Then?
Samuel Taylor Coleridge? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A fascinating fragment describes the tangible intrusion of a dream into the prosaic world: What if you slept And what if in your sleep you dreamed And what if in your dream you went to heaven And there plucked a strange and beautiful flower And what if when …
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Culture Does Not Consist in Acquiring Opinions, But in Getting Rid of Them
William Butler Yeats? Leonard A. G. Strong? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Too often classes in literature and the arts simply provide an encyclopedic recitation of previous opinions on a topic. The Nobel-Prize-winning Irish poet William Butler Yeats made a provocative remark about the desirability of getting rid of opinions. Would you please help me to …
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To Err Is Human, But a Human Error Is Nothing To What a Computer Can Do If It Tries
Agatha Christie? Bill Vaughan? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Previously you examined a humorous statement from columnist Bill Vaughan about the electronic beasts that control so much of our lives: To err is human, to really foul things up requires a computer. I think that the famous mystery writer Agatha Christie said something very similar. Would …
A Pedestal Is as Much a Prison as Any Small Space
Gloria Steinem? Joe King? Anonymous Black Feminist? Dear Quote Investigator: Being placed on a pedestal has a serious drawback according to the following astute metaphorical amplification: A pedestal is a prison, like any other small space. Would you please explore the provenance of this expression which is often attributed to the prominent feminist Gloria Steinem? …
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