Mignon McLaughlin? Marshall McLuhan? Wayne Dyer? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: History books laud unconventional thinkers and eccentric characters who faced hardships during their lifetimes. An adage expressing this notion has been credited to magazine editor Mignon McLaughlin and media theorist Marshall McLuhan. Here are two versions: Would you please explore this saying? Reply from …
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Quote Origin: They Who Are of Opinion that Money Will Do Everything, May Very Well Be Suspected To Do Everything for Money
Benjamin Franklin? George Savile? Apocryphal? Anonymous Question for Quote Investigator: A popular technique in rhetoric consists of repeating a clause while permuting the words. For example: Apparently, statesman Benjamin Franklin contended that a belief in the first clause led individuals to follow the guidance of the second. Would you please explore this topic? Reply from …
Quote Origin: The Capitalists Will Sell Us the Rope with Which We Will Hang Them
Vladimir Lenin? Joseph Stalin? Karl Marx? George Racey Jordan? Samuel E. Keeble? S. Dmitrijewski? Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A quotation about imprudent greed and near-sightedness has been attributed to three prominent communists: Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and Karl Marx. Here are three versions of the statement: Would you please explore the provenance …
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Quote Origin: The Purpose of Life Is To Be Defeated by Greater and Greater Things
Rainer Maria Rilke? Tim O’Reilly? Louise Bogan? Robert Bly? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A recent book by technology guru and computer book publisher Tim O’Reilly contained the following appeal: Pursue something so important that even if you fail, the world is better off for you having tried. O’Reilly illustrated this idea by referring to …
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Quote Origin: Between Stimulus and Response There Is a Space. In That Space Is Our Power To Choose Our Response
Viktor E. Frankl? Stephen R. Covey? Rollo May? Thomas Walton Galloway? Sheldon P. Stoff? B. F. Skinner? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: It is possible to control ones reactions and feelings even when one is faced with frightening hardships. The psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl has been credited with the following: Between stimulus and response there …
Quote Origin: I Would Carry Away the Fire
Jean Cocteau? André Fraigneau? Harold Acton? Ned Rorem? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A top literary figure whose home was packed with valuable manuscripts and art objects was once asked to choose a favorite item. A vivid and heartbreaking scenario was proposed by an interviewer. The reply described the perfect salvation: Suppose flames were consuming …
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Quote Origin: Let Them Know the Truth, and the Country Is Safe
Abraham Lincoln? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The Newseum is a museum in Washington, D.C. featuring exhibits about the history of communication, the news industry, and free expression. A powerful quotation attributed to Abraham Lincoln is engraved into one of its walls: Let the people know the facts, and the country will be safe. I …
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Quote Origin: The Single Most Important Fact, Perhaps, of the Entire Movie Industry: Nobody Knows Anything
William Goldman? Will Rogers? Kevin Smith? Gus Van Sant? Robert Towne? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Predicting the box office success of a forthcoming movie is apparently impossible. It is also difficult to anticipate the critical response. These challenges are encapsulated in a Hollywood adage of exasperation: Nobody knows anything. Would you please explore the …
Quote Origin: The Future Belongs to Those Who Believe in the Beauty of Their Dreams
Eleanor Roosevelt? Addie Philko? Thomas Malory? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular motivational statement has been attributed to the social activist and former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt: The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. I have been unable to find a solid citation. What do you think? …
Quote Origin: The Eye Sees Only What the Mind Is Prepared To Comprehend
Henri Bergson? Robertson Davies? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Thomas Carlyle? Anais Nin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: One might see a duck when looking at the famous ambiguous image above, or one might see a rabbit. Perceiving one animal partially blocks the recognition of the other animal, and mental effort is required to switch one’s …
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