Mark Twain? Hugh Elmer Brown? Joseph Fort Newton? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following quotation is often attributed to Mark Twain, but I do not know whether it is accurate: It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand. Would you …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: Novelty is Mistaken for Progress
Frank Lloyd Wright? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright was critical of the new buildings he saw in cities. Apparently, he said: Novelty is mistaken for Progress. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1955 Frank Lloyd Wright published an essay titled “The …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Novelty is Mistaken for Progress”
Quote Origin: Thirty Years from Now the Big University Campuses Will Be Relics. Universities Won’t Survive
Peter Drucker? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous management guru Peter Drucker apparently made a provocative prediction about education: Universities won’t survive. Is this quotation accurate? Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1997 “Forbes” published an interview with Peter F. Drucker under the title “Seeing things …
Quote Origin: There is No Reason for Any Individual To Have a Computer in Their Home
Ken Olsen? David H. Ahl? Gordon Bell? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I was looking through a collection of woefully inaccurate pronouncements delivered by experts, and I saw a remark attributed to Ken Olsen, a prominent computer industry pioneer who founded the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) which built minicomputers. DEC was perfectly positioned to create …
Quote Origin: To Be Glamourous Just Stand Still and Look Stupid
Hedy Lamarr? Hedda Hopper? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The Hollywood star Hedy Lamarr was famous for her beauty and intelligence. In the 1940s she and a co-author were granted a patent for a futuristic frequency-hopping communication system whose importance emerged two decades later. Her attitude towards glamor was summarized with a hilarious quotation: Why, …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: To Be Glamourous Just Stand Still and Look Stupid”
Quote Origin: I Spent a Good Part of Last Evening Laughing at a Very Bad Play
Walter Kerr? Groucho Marx? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Comedies rarely win prestigious awards. Critics are unaccountably hostile to works that make them guffaw. Groucho Marx once described a critic who laughed heartily and repeatedly during the performance of a play, yet crafted and published an excoriating newspaper review the next day using the barbed …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Spent a Good Part of Last Evening Laughing at a Very Bad Play”
Quote Origin: You Are Never Too Old To Set Another Goal or To Dream a New Dream
C. S. Lewis? Les Brown? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous fantasy author C. S. Lewis has been credited with an encouraging statement aimed at seniors: You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. I haven’t been able to find a citation. Is this ascription accurate? Reply …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: You Are Never Too Old To Set Another Goal or To Dream a New Dream”
Quote Origin: Pet Canary Onan Spills Its Seed Upon the Ground
Dorothy Parker? Corey Ford? John Keats? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Apparently, the famous wit Dorothy Parker was once asked why she had selected the curious name Onan for her pet canary. She replied: Because he spills his seed on the ground. What is the veracity of this tale? Reply from Quote Investigator: The biblical …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Pet Canary Onan Spills Its Seed Upon the Ground”
Quote Origin: There Are Three Things Extremely Hard, Steel, a Diamond and To Know One’s Self
Benjamin Franklin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently, I came across an insightful saying about psychology: Three of the hardest entities are steel, a diamond, and self-knowledge. Would you please help me to determine the originator? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1750 statesman Benjamin Franklin included an instance in “Poor Richard’s Almanack”. The word “extremely” …
Quote Origin: If a Cluttered Desk Is a Sign of a Cluttered Mind, We Can’t Help Wondering What an Empty Desk Indicates
Albert Einstein? Truman Twill? Lyndon B. Johnson? Laurence J. Peter? Paul A. Freund? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Many sayings attributed to the scientific genius Albert Einstein concern the mind. Here is a funny example: If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign? …