Maya Angelou? Nathaniel Hawthorne? Thomas Hood? Richard Brinsley Sheridan? Charles Allston Collins? Anthony Trollope? Lord Byron? William Makepeace Thackeray? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Writers should strive to create texts that are informative, interesting, stimulating, and readable. But one of my favorite sayings reveals that this can be a remarkably difficult task: Easy reading is damned …
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Easy Writing’s Vile Hard Reading
Richard Brinsley Sheridan? Lord Byron? Ernest Hemingway? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There are two complementary and intertwined statements about reading and writing that I would like you to investigate: 1) Easy writing results in hard reading. 2) Easy reading requires hard writing. Many different phrases have been used to express these two thoughts, and sometimes …
The Man Who Views the World at 50 the Same as He Did at 20 Has Wasted 30 Years of His Life
Muhammad Ali? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a statement attributed to Muhammad Ali about the natural changes in viewpoint an individual experiences during decades of growth and maturation. Ali stated that a person who does not change his or her perspective over a long period of time has wasted the years. Are you familiar …
If People Don’t Want to Come, Nothing Will Stop Them
Yogi Berra? Sol Hurok? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Baseball luminary Yogi Berra is famous for comical pronouncements that contain a kernel of wisdom. One of my favorites is about fan attendance at baseball games: If people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them. Recently, I heard that renowned …
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Now We Sit Through Shakespeare in Order to Recognize the Quotations
Orson Welles? Oscar Wilde? James Aswell? Richard Lederer? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The influence of William Shakespeare’s works on the English language has been enormous; consider the following phrases: To thine own self be true It was Greek to me Brevity is the soul of wit To be, or not to be Not a mouse …
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Creativity Is Allowing Yourself to Make Mistakes. Art Is Knowing Which Ones to Keep
Scott Adams? Ricky Gervais? Douglas Adams? Anonymous? Quote Investigator: Using creativity to solve a problem or create an artwork requires openness, originality, and imagination. Yet, the process inevitably produces some missteps and gaffes. That is why the following is my favorite quotation: Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to …
Before You Diagnose Yourself with Depression or Low Self-Esteem…
Sigmund Freud? William Gibson? @debihope? Anonymous? Dear Quotes Investigator: There is a saying about maintaining emotional health that is both heartfelt and sardonic. The words have been attributed to the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and the award-winning science fiction author William Gibson. Here are two versions: Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, …
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If You Can Read This, You’ve Come Too Close
Dorothy Parker? Lillian Hellman? Ford Model T Label? Frank Sullivan? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The witty author Dorothy Parker was once asked to suggest an epitaph for her tombstone. Over the years she crafted several different candidates, and I am interested in the following saying which can be expressed in multiple ways: If you …
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The Dictionary Is the Only Place Where Success Comes Before Work
Vince Lombardi? Mark Twain? Arthur Brisbane? Vidal Sassoon? Stubby Currence? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is an astute saying about gaining achievements through effort that deftly refers to the alphabetical order of a dictionary. Here are two versions: 1) Success comes before work only in the dictionary. 2) The dictionary is the only place where …
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Don’t Like to Write, But Like Having Written
Dorothy Parker? George R. R. Martin? Frank Norris? Robert Louis Stevenson? Cornelia Otis Skinner? Clive Barnes? Jack Klugman? Gloria Steinem? Hedley Donovan? Dear Quote Investigator: Writing is an arduous task for many skilled authors. There is a popular family of sayings that contrasts the elation of accomplishment with the struggle of composition: 1) I hate …
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