Tracing Quotations
Thomas Edison? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Thomas Edison and his laboratory researchers helped to develop a wide range of important inventions. Apparently, he was once asked to name his favorite invention, and he replied with a statement similar to the following: Of all my inventions, I liked the phonograph best. I have not been …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Greatest Invention? I Like the Phonograph Best”
William James? Scott Jurek? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following statement about endurance is popular with long-distance runners and others who face demanding situations: Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because …
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Albert Einstein? Walter Isaacson? J. Benson Hamilton? Charles Haddon Spurgeon? Dorothy Tucker? William Whiting? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous physicist Albert Einstein reportedly used a wonderful simile that compared riding a bicycle with living successfully. Here are three versions: Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. People …
Frank Harary? Gerald M. Weinberg? Marshall C. Yovits? Max Goldstein? Richard Feynman? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The participants in several fields of endeavor have selected names that include the word “science”, e.g., Political Science, Information Science, Military Science, Library Science, Domestic Science, and Computer Science. This motley collection inspired the following quip: Anything with …
Napoleon Bonaparte? Thomas Paine? Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle? Thomas Warton? Pierre-Jacques Changeux? James Joyce? Mark Twain? Question for Quote Investigator: Aesthetic evaluations are sometimes complex and contradictory. A well-known saying reflects this unstable nature. Here are two versions: 1) The sublime is only a step removed from the ridiculous. 2) From the sublime to …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous There Is But One Step”
Clarence Darrow? Miriam Gurko? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Clarence Darrow was a famous American lawyer with a sobering view of the justice system. The following words have been attributed to him: A courtroom is not a place where truth and innocence inevitably triumph; it is only an arena where contending lawyers fight, not for …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Contending Lawyers Can Fight, Not for Justice, But to Win”
George Bernard Shaw? Alan Lomax? Henry Wadsworth Longfellow? Henry David Thoreau? Question for Quote Investigator: I believe that the famous playwright and music critic George Bernard Shaw said something like the following: Music may be a universal language, but it’s spoken with all sorts of peculiar accents. I checked some quotation references and was unable …
Mark Twain? Tennessee Williams? Edward Gannon? Hugh A. Mulligan? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Travelers in the U.S. sometimes complain of cookie-cutter monotony. The following quip has been attributed to the prominent playwright Tennessee Williams, and the luminary Mark Twain: America has only three great cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else …
Pablo Picasso? Edward L. Bernays? Question for Quote Investigator: Achieving happiness is often challenging. Some people intensely dislike their work life and attempt to obtain joy elsewhere. There is a quotation that cautions against allowing this type of dichotomy to rule one’s life, and this valuable guidance has been attributed to the famous painter Pablo …
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Poul Anderson? Arthur Koestler? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following statement has been called Anderson’s Law and Koestler’s motto: I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you looked at it in the right way, did not become still more complicated. The words have been attributed to the prominent science fiction …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Looked at the Right Way It Becomes Still More Complicated”