Walter Barbee? Walter Barbie? Walter Barbe? Robert Alcorn? Nancy Reese? Question for Quote Investigator: A cogent adage aimed at teachers begins with the following phrase: If you’ve told a child a thousand times and he still does not understand… The full expression concludes with a reversal of the traditional supposition and indicates that the teacher …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: Chains Do Not Hold a Marriage Together. It Is Thread, Hundreds of Tiny Threads which Sew People Together Through the Years
Simone Signoret? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I am trying to find a citation for a statement attributed to the wonderful French movie actress Simone Signoret. Here is a paraphrase from my memory: marriages are not held together by chains; they are held together by hundreds of threads. Are you familiar with this saying? Would …
Quote Origin: First Forget Inspiration. Habit Is More Dependable. Habit Will Sustain You Whether You’re Inspired or Not
Octavia Butler? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently, a publisher in Silicon Valley tweeted an illustration of the prominent science fiction author Octavia Butler together with a quotation that offered intriguing advice about writing. The quote began: First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. When were these words written or said by Butler? Reply from …
Quote Origin: We Are an Impossibility in an Impossible Universe
Ray Bradbury? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: On Facebook I saw the following quotation displayed on a star-filled picture: We are an impossibility in an impossible universe The words were attributed to the prominent science fiction author Ray Bradbury, but I haven’t been able to find a citation. Would you please help? Reply from Quote …
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Quote Origin: Many Persons Have a Wrong Idea of What Constitutes True Happiness. It Is Not Attained Through Self-Gratification but Through Fidelity to a Worthy Purpose
Helen Keller? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A wise statement about true happiness and its connection to the pursuit of a worthwhile objective has been attributed to the blind social activist Helen Keller. Are you familiar with this saying and is the ascription accurate? Reply from Quote Investigator: Hellen Keller maintained a journal during the …
Quote Origin: When the Politicians Complain That Television Turns Their Proceedings into a Circus, It Should Be Made Plain That the Circus Was Already There
Edward R. Murrow? David Horsey? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: In March 2016 the political cartoonist and commentator David Horsey of the “Los Angeles Times” published a cartoon showing the prominent journalist Edward R. Murrow seated in front of a television screen that displayed a group of angry clowns. The quotation accompanying the illustration compared …
Quote Origin: Education Is Not the Learning of Facts, But the Training of the Mind To Think
Albert Einstein? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A learner may accumulate a large number of miscellaneous pieces of information without achieving an integrated understanding and without acquiring an ability to use the material intelligently. Reportedly, Albert Einstein made a germane remark: Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of minds to think. …
Quote Origin: I’m Looking for Loopholes
W. C. Fields? Ben Hecht? Gene Fowler? Thomas Mitchell? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The brilliant comedian and movie actor W. C. Fields led an unrestrained showbiz life displaying a fondness for alcohol and mistresses. He was not known as a religious man, but as his death approached he began to peruse the Bible. When …
Quote Origin: Literature Is of No Practical Value Whatsoever
Vladimir Nabokov? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov was a consummate prose stylist. When he was a professor teaching his students about literature he apparently shared the following candid opinion: Literature is of no practical value whatsoever. Is this quotation accurate? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1980 the posthumous book “Lectures …
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Quote Origin: He Was Prepared To Lay Down His Life for Eight Cousins or Two Brothers
J. B. S. Haldane? John Maynard Smith? W. D. Hamilton? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Kin selection is an important and sometimes controversial idea in genetics. The prominent biologist J. B. S. Haldane reportedly said: I would gladly give up my life for two brothers or eight cousins. I have been unable to find a …