Tracing Quotations
Samuel Taylor Coleridge? Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley? Don Marquis? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: While perusing the book “Dim Wit: The Stupidest Quotes of All Time” I came across an entertaining topic for Halloween in the following entry about a famous poet:[1] 2010, Dim Wit: The Stupidest Quotes of All Time, Compiled by Rosemarie Jarski, Quote Page …
Continue reading “I Do Not Believe in Ghosts Because I Have Seen Too Many of Them”
Elbert Hubbard? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I’m intrigued by the following counter-intuitive adage: The love we give away is the only love we keep. Would you please explore its provenance? Quote Investigator: Elbert Hubbard was the founder of a community of artisans called Roycrofters who were located in East Aurora, New York. He also …
Continue reading “The Love You Give Away Is the Only Love You Keep”
Edgar Allan Poe? Germaine de Staël? Bert Leston Taylor? Charles A. Dana? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a family of quips that express a comically contradictory attitude toward specters. Here are three instances: I do not believe in ghosts, but I am awfully afraid of them. I don’t believe in ghosts, but I’ve been …
Continue reading “I Do Not Believe in Ghosts, But I Am Awfully Afraid of Them”
Stephanie Herrera? Chris Boeskool? Mike Jebbett? Jesse Alan Downs? Brian Sims? Clay Shirky? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Activists have formulated an adage about privilege that has achieved wide distribution: When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression Would you please examine its provenance? Reply from Quote Investigator: This thought can be expressed in …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: When You’re Accustomed to Privilege, Equality Feels Like Oppression”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge? Tryon Edwards? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: My favorite poem is “Kubla Khan; or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I love the poem’s opium inspired image of a “stately pleasure dome”. Serendipitously, I came across an insightful remark ascribed to Coleridge that contrasted different types of intellects: …
Continue reading “Leave Him With a Favorable Opinion of Himself”
Pablo Picasso? Jean Renoir? Garson Kanin? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Critics discuss abstruse theories of creativity and engage in esoteric scrutiny of aesthetics while artists are primarily concerned with the practical. Admittedly, this is an oversimplification. Here is a statement that makes a similar point: When art critics get together they talk about form and …
Continue reading “When Painters Get Together They Talk About Where You Can Buy the Best Turpentine”
Gloria Steinem? Irina Dunn? Erica Jong? Florynce Kennedy? Charles S. Harris? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A famous feminist slogan asserts that a woman is capable of living a complete and independent life without a man. Here are two versions: A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle. A woman needs a …
Continue reading “A Woman Without a Man Is Like a Fish Without a Bicycle”
Tony Daniels? Edmund Vance Cooke? James J. Montague? Carolyn McKane? Tom Robbins? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There are many upbeat sayings on your website, but I would like you to explore a popular motto of the disaffected. Here are four versions: Life is hard and then you die. Life is rough and then you die. …
Winston Churchill? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Genuine free speech entails disagreement and debate; it is never a one-sided notion. According to a Facebook meme Winston Churchill supposedly said: Some people’s idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage. …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: If Anyone Says Anything Back, That Is an Outrage”
Abraham Lincoln? James Russell Lowell? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Intelligent and thoughtful people maintain mental flexibility throughout life. It is irrational to rigidly adhere to a fixed opinion in the face of reliable contrary information. Abraham Lincoln supposedly said: The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions. These words have also been credited …
Continue reading “The Foolish and the Dead Alone Never Change Their Opinion”