Vincent van Gogh? Sarah Harding? Anonymous? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Conforming to social norms is much easier than following a divergent, colorful, and eccentric pathway through life. This notion has been expressed as follows: Normality is a paved road; it’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it. The famous Dutch painter Vincent …
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Quote Origin: From Beasts We Scorn as Soulless, In Forest, Field and Den
M. Frida Hartley? William Ralph Inge? Jan Bryant Bartell? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A verse condemning cruelty toward animals begins with the following two lines: From beasts we scorn as soulless, In forest, field and den This verse has been attributed to British social activist M. Frida Hartley and influential Anglican priest William Inge. …
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Quote Origin: The Creative Adult Is a Child Who Has Survived
Ursula K. Le Guin? Robin W. Winks? Julian F. Fleron? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Critics of childrearing practices complain that the imagination and creativity of children is carelessly discouraged. This notion has been encapsulated with the following adage: The creative adult is a child who has survived. The prominent science fiction and fantasy writer …
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Quote Origin: A House Without Books Is Like a Body Without a Soul
Marcus Tullius Cicero? G. K. Chesterton? Henry Ward Beecher? Mrs. Ashton Yates? John Lubbock? William Forsyth? William Lucas Collins? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The most attractive room in a large house is the library. Here are three versions of a germane adage: (1) A house without books is like a body without a soul. …
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Quote Origin: Everything in the Universe Has a Rhythm. Everything Dances
Maya Angelou? Celia Caroline Cole? Friedrich Nietzsche? George Martin? Michael Frisby? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The Earth has natural rhythms such as the high and low tides of the ocean. The sky also has rhythms such as the oscillating electromagnetic radiation from a pulsar. Here is a saying on this theme: Everything in the …
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Quote Origin: It Is Better To Deserve Honors and Not Have Them Than To Have Them and Not Deserve Them
Mark Twain? Humphry Davy? Robert G. Ingersoll? Cato the Elder? Hugh M‘Neile? Cassius Marcellus Clay? Thomas Fuller? Question for Quote Investigator: A person of great merit may not receive any recognition while an unworthy person may receive numerous accolades. This perverse disconnection has inspired the following ethical stance: It is better to deserve honors and …
Quote Origin: No One Chooses Evil Because It Is Evil; One Only Mistakes It for Happiness, The Good One Seeks
Mary Shelley? Mary Wollstonecraft? Wednesday Addams? Epictetus? George Stanhope? Gustav Friedrich Wiggers? Question for Quote Investigator: Usually, a person does not perform an evil act simply because it is evil. Instead, the motivation is more complex. The person is pursuing their own deeply flawed vision of good. Often, the person is pursuing their own happiness …
Quote Origin: There Are Two Kinds of Teachers: The Kind That Fill You With So Much Quail Shot That You Can’t Move, and . . .
Robert Frost? Mark Twain? Margaret Pepperdene? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Prominent U.S. poet Robert Frost has received credit for a brilliantly vivid metaphor describing two types of teachers. One type fills students with so much quail shot they cannot move. The other type simply prods students a little, and they jump to the skies. …
Adage Provenance: Before You Leave the House, Look in the Mirror and Remove One Piece of Jewelry
Coco Chanel? Gracie Allen? Joan Rivers? The McGuire Sisters? Polly Bergen? Nancy Abraham? Maggie Daly? Helen Hennessy? John Robert Powers? Beatrice Molinsky? George Burns? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Fashion sense is always subjective, but many agree that wearing too much jewelry looks gaudy and ostentatious. The style maven Coco Chanel supposedly gave the following …
Quote Origin: When a Man Loves Cats, I Am His Friend and Comrade
Mark Twain? Robert H. Hirst? Susy Clemens? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Several books about cats contain a quotation credited to humorist Mark Twain stating that Twain was a friend and comrade to people who love cats. I am skeptical of this attribution, and I haven’t seen a citation. Would you please explore this topic? …
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