Archibald MacLeish? Laurence J. Peter? Earl Wilson? Eleanor Hoyt? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The American poet Archibald MacLeish apparently said that learning from experience was painful, but the alternative of not learning was worse. A similar remark has been ascribed to quotation collector Laurence J. Peter. Would you please examine this topic? Reply from …
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Quote Origin: Never Think That You’re Not Good Enough
Anthony Trollope? Isaac Asimov? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently, I saw a tweet ascribing the following words to the popular Victorian era English novelist Anthony Trollope: Above all else, never think you’re not good enough. Curiously, when I searched for a citation I found that it was also ascribed to the science fiction master …
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Quote Origin: Creativity Is Contagious. Pass It On
Albert Einstein? Bernice Bede Osol? Eugene Raudsepp? François de La Rochefoucauld? Dale Carnegie? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following words are often credited to the scientific genius Albert Einstein: Creativity is contagious. Pass it on. I cannot find a good citation. What do you think? Reply from Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence …
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Quote Origin: We Have Done So Much with So Little for So Long, that Now We Can Do Anything with Nothing
U.S. Airforce? U.S. Navy? Marines? U.S. Coastguard? Hugh S. Johnson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: During a retirement party I heard the following humorous encomium: She did so much, with so little, for so long that she is now able to do everything with nothing. Would you please explore the history of this statement? Reply …
Quote Origin: People Think They Are Thinking When They Are Merely Rearranging Their Prejudices
Edward R. Murrow? Knute Rockne? William James? William Fitzjames Oldham? Josh Billings? George Craig Stewart? Luther Burbank? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Changing deeply help opinions is very difficult. A brilliant and forceful quotation expresses this idea: Many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices. These words have been attributed …
Quote Origin: Man Will Atrophy All His Limbs But the Push-Button Finger
Frank Lloyd Wright? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A simple finger touch can make a phone call, play music, summon a taxi, obtain a weather forecast, pay a bill, and perform countless other tasks via apps. The famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright feared that in the future all of our body parts would atrophy except …
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Quote Origin: All Religion, My Friend, Is Simply Evolved Out of Chicanery, Fear, Greed, Imagination and Poetry
Edgar Allan Poe? William Barton? John A. Joyce? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following remark has been ascribed to the master of mystery and the macabre Edgar Allan Poe Religion evolved out of fraud, fear, and greed. Is this quotation accurate? Reply from Quote Investigator: A controversial remark of this type was included in …
Quote Origin: Once You Replace Negative Thoughts with Positive Ones, You’ll Start Having Positive Results
Willie Nelson? Dale Carnegie? Norman Vincent Peale? James K. Van Fleet? John C. Maxwell? Question for Quote Investigator: Did country music star Willie Nelson say something about replacing negative thoughts with positive ones to achieve positive results? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 2006 Willie Nelson with Turk Pipkin published “The Tao of Willie: A Guide …
Quote Origin: To Be Happy at Home Is the Ultimate Result of All Ambition
Samuel Johnson? C. S. Lewis? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous English lexicographer Samuel Johnson apparently extolled domestic bliss. Did he write or say something like the following? The chief aim of all human endeavors is to be happy at home. Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1746 Samuel Johnson signed a contract to create …
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Quote Origin: History Is the Unfolding of Miscalculations
Barbara W. Tuchman? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The popular historian Barbara W. Tuchman crafted one or both of the following cautionary adages: Sometimes the final word is singular. Would you please help me unravel this mystery? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1971 Tuchman published “Stilwell and the American Experience in China: 1911-45”. She discussed …
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