Gelett Burgess? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Anyone who wishes to remain intellectually vital must be willing to challenge his or her own opinions. Viewpoints should evolve and flawed notions should be replaced. I came across the following cogent expression: If in the last few years you haven’t discarded a major opinion or acquired …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: If You Want To Tell People the Truth, You’d Better Make Them Laugh or They’ll Kill You
George Bernard Shaw? Oscar Wilde? Cecile Starr? Billy Wilder? Richard Pryor? James L. Brooks? Dustin Hoffman? Charles Ludlam? Question for Quote Investigator: Dramatists have discovered that challenging material often elicits hostility or boredom. This is dangerous for creators because jobs in the entertainment industry are precarious. Yet, a provocative production leavened with humor is often …
Quote Origin: Nine Requisites for Contented Living
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? William D. Smith? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The prominent German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe has been credited with the following group of expressions called: The Nine Requisites for Contented Living: (1) Health enough to make work a pleasure.(2) Wealth enough to support your needs.(3) Strength to battle with difficulties …
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Quote Origin: That Which Can Be Destroyed By the Truth Should Be
Carl Sagan? P. C. Hodgell? Kirien? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There exists a family of sayings that is popular in the community of skeptics. Here are four examples: 1) That which can be destroyed by the truth should be. 2) Anything that can be destroyed by the truth should be. 3) Anything that can …
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Quote Origin: The Noblest Search of Today Is the Search for Excellence
Lyndon B. Johnson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Lyndon B. Johnson was the President of the U.S. during the 1960s. I am having a difficult time trying to verify the following uplifting quotation which has been attributed to him: The noblest search is the search for excellence. What do you think? Reply from Quote Investigator: …
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Quote Origin: I Would Never Die for My Beliefs Because I Might Be Wrong
Bertrand Russell? Ayn Rand? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently, while reading my Facebook feed I saw a graphic from a major media organization (The Economist) that displayed a picture of the influential philosopher Bertrand Russell coupled with the following quotation: I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong. Are these …
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Quote Origin: If the Human Brain Were So Simple That We Could Understand It, We Would Be So Simple That We Couldn’t
Lyall Watson? George Edgin Pugh? Emerson M. Pugh? Ken Hill? Question for Quote Investigator: The European Union has launched a ten year scientific venture called the Human Brain Project to build a large-scale neural simulation of the brain. Google has hired the top computer scientist and inventor Ray Kurzweil who has espoused a strategy of …
Quote Origin: There Are Really No Dull Subjects, Only Dull Writers
H. L. Mencken? Raymond Chandler? Woodrow Wilson? Richard Le Gallienne? George Horace Lorimer? Question for Quote Investigator: Successful scribblers believe that all writing should be engaging. A popular adage places the onus squarely on the shoulders of the author: There are no dull subjects, just dull writers. This expression has been attributed to the curmudgeon …
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Quote Origin: Everyone Who Bought One of Those 30,000 Copies Started a Band
Brian Eno? Lou Reed? Sylvain Sylvain? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The most influential rock band of the 1960s and early 1970s was The Velvet Underground, but their path breaking sound did not achieve great commercial success. A popular quip has emerged depicting their importance: The Velvet Underground didn’t sell many records, but everyone who …
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Quote Origin: I Can Write Faster than Anyone Who Can Write Better, and I Can Write Better than Anyone Who Can Write Faster
A. J. Liebling? Shirley Povich? Red Smith? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The journalist A. J. Liebling was well-known for his productivity at the typewriter. Yet, high speed in composition and high quality in prose are sometimes antithetical goals. Liebling crafted a statement about his skills that was simultaneously egotistical and self-deprecating: I can write …