Tracing Quotations
Robert Frost? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The prominent poet Robert Frost thought that pursuing activities with an unremitting frenetic pace was unwise; periods of relaxation and leisure were indispensable. He has been credited with a passage that begins: There’s absolutely no reason for being rushed along with the rush. Everybody should be free to go …
Continue reading “There’s Absolutely No Reason for Being Rushed Along with the Rush”
Abraham Lincoln? Thomas Carlyle? Robert G. Ingersoll? Horatio Alger Jr.? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: I saw the following quotation on the website of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum: Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. Lincoln was credited, but I have seen …
Oscar Wilde? Frank Harris? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following passage from a philosophical magazine of 1815 asserts that intellectual gifts are innate:[1]January 1815, The Philosophical Magazine And Journal, Volume 45, Dr. Spurzheim’s demonstrative Course of Lectures, Start Page 50, Quote Page 52, Printed by Richard and Arthur Taylor, Shoe Lane, … Continue reading That genius …
Wilson Mizner? Addison Mizner? Douglas Malloch? Louis Ginsberg? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: An adage from antiquity asserts that a great poet must have an inborn talent that cannot be taught or feigned: A poet is born, not made. The dire financial condition of the market for poetry has inspired a humorously modified expression: A poet …
Agatha Christie? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The acclaimed mystery writer Agatha Christie wrote more than sixty novels and sold an enormous number of copies. Yet, I was told that somewhere she had claimed that writing was agony for her. Is this possible? Would you please examine this question? Quote Investigator: In 1977 “Agatha Christie: An …
Continue reading “Starting To Write a Book: There Is No Agony Like It”
Henry Ford? G. K. Chesterton? Charles Zueblin? Franklin Minor? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The automotive titan Henry Ford reportedly crafted a humorous and insightful remark about thinking. Here are three versions: 1) Thinking is hard work. That may be the reason so few engage in it. 2) Thinking is the hardest work there is, …
George Bernard Shaw? Mallory Browne? Raymond Gram Swing? Oscar Wilde? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The influential Irish playwright and commentator George Bernard Shaw has been credited with a humorous remark about language. Here are four versions: 1) Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language. 2) The English and Americans are …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Britain and America Are Two Nations Divided by a Common Language”
John Dewey? William F. Russell? Helena Weatherby? Thomas A. Harris? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Thinking thoroughly about a topic is a difficult and painstaking task. Many people prefer quick and easy answers that can be selected with minimal thought. Yet sometimes people face obstacles that require careful cogitation. The famous philosopher and teacher John Dewey …
Continue reading “We Only Think When We Are Confronted With a Problem”
Henry Ward Beecher? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Are you familiar with the amusing anecdote about an “April Fool” letter sent to the famous orator Henry Ward Beecher. Would you please examine the tale’s provenance? Quote Investigator: The earliest evidence known to QI was published on April 27, 1870 in the “Daily Evening Traveller” of Boston, …
Continue reading “April Fool: Signed His Name and Forgot to Write the Letter”
Marston Bates? Barstow Bates? Plutarch? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A path-breaking researcher must pursue many leads that do not work out. Sometimes he or she must exhaustively test a set of possibilities with the foreknowledge that only a handful will yield positive results. That is why I embrace the following insightful saying: Research is the …
Continue reading “Research Is the Process of Going Up Alleys to See If They’re Blind”