Henry Ford? Jessie Potter? Dayle K. Maloney? Cathy Bolger? Susan Jeffers? Jackie “Moms” Mabley? Tony Robbins? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Why do people repeat foolish, ineffective, or self-destructive behaviors? Self-help books contain an adage about the consequences of thoughtless repetition. Here are three versions: 1) If you do what you’ve always done you’ll get …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: Google Can Bring You Back 100,000 Answers. A Librarian Can Bring You Back the Right One
Neil Gaiman? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: In today’s world of search engines and myriad webpages some have questioned the future of libraries and librarians. The award-winning fantasy author Neil Gaiman coined an insightful saying on this topic. In essence, a librarian can help guide you to find the right answer from the hundreds of …
Quote Origin: Using Money You Haven’t Earned To Buy Things You Don’t Need To Impress People You Don’t Like
Will Smith? Walter Winchell? Robert Quillen? Edgar Allan Moss? Tony Wons? Ken Murray? Emile Gauvreau? Walter Slezak? Will Rogers? Chuck Palahniuk? Tyler Durden? Question for Quote Investigator: Have you ever purchased an item and wondered the next day what motivated your inexplicable action? Here are two versions of an entertaining saying about consumerism: 1) Too …
Quote Origin: Sorry — If I Had Any Advice To Give I’d Take It Myself
John Steinbeck? Harper Lee? Rod Serling? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Literary folklore asserts that John Steinbeck, the Nobel prize-winning author, was once asked to share a nugget of wisdom for aspiring authors, and he replied humorously and candidly that he did not really have any advice. In fact, if he had some good advice …
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Quote Origin: An Appeaser Is One Who Feeds a Crocodile, Hoping It Will Eat Him Last
Winston Churchill? Walter Winchell? Reader’s Digest? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: British leader Winston Churchill has been credited with a crafting a vivid definition for “appeaser” that cleverly employed figurative language: An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile — hoping it will eat him last. It supposedly was spoken during World War II, but …
Quote Origin: There’s Absolutely No Reason for Being Rushed Along with the Rush
Robert Frost? Apocryphal? Question for 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 …
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Quote Origin: Nearly All Men Can Stand Adversity, But If You Want To Test a Man’s Character, Give Him Power
Abraham Lincoln? Thomas Carlyle? Robert G. Ingersoll? Horatio Alger Jr.? Apocryphal? Question for 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 …
Quote Origin: Genius Is Born, Not Paid
Oscar Wilde? Frank Harris? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following passage from a philosophical magazine of 1815 asserts that intellectual gifts are innate: That genius is born, is a trite truth; education never creates, it only cultivates and directs the faculties. An ancient adage states this controversial thesis concisely for the realm of poetry: …
Quote Origin: A Poet Is Born, Not Paid
Wilson Mizner? Addison Mizner? Douglas Malloch? Louis Ginsberg? Anonymous? Question for 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 …
Quote Origin: Starting To Write a Book: There Is No Agony Like It
Agatha Christie? Apocryphal? Question for 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? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1977 …
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