Tracing Quotations
Marshall McLuhan? Albert Einstein? Clyde Kluckhohn? Pierce Butler? James C. Coleman? John H. Fisher? John Culkin? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Sometimes an individual embedded in a particular culture or environment can become blind to the prevailing norms within his or her domain. I have heard a figurative expression that illustrates this predicament. Here are three …
Continue reading “We Don’t Know Who Discovered Water, But We Know It Wasn’t a Fish”
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Norman Vincent Peale? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following statement is often attributed to the famous philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson: What you are comes to you. Some adherents of “New Thought” and “New Age” belief systems view this as a spiritual law. This saying reminded me of the quasi-mystical book …
Bishop of Chelmsford? A. H. Reginald Buller? Albert Einstein? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a popular comical limerick about a young woman named White or Bright that highlights the counterintuitive nature of time measurements in Einstein’s theory of relativity. Do you know this poem? Do you know who composed it? Quote Investigator: The earliest …
Continue reading “There Was a Young Lady Named Bright Whose Speed Was Far Faster Than Light”
George Carlin? Maya Angelou? Vicki Corona? Hilary Cooper? Kevin Bisch? Will Smith? Philip James Bailey? Dear Quote Investigator: The following inspirational quotation has been attributed to a wide variety of people: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. I doubt that this …
Niccolò Machiavelli? Jean-Paul Sartre? Jean Paul? Johann Paul Friedrich Richter? Dear Quote Investigator: A student would like to use the following quotation about perspicacity gained through experience in a yearbook, but she has been unable to determine an appropriate ascription: The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should …
James Kirkwood Jr.? Ronald Reagan? Ken Kesey? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a famous joke about a child who wakes up on Christmas morning and is surprised to find a heap of horse manure under the tree instead of a collection of presents. Yet, the child is not discouraged because he has an extraordinarily …
Abraham Lincoln? Jacques Abbadie? Denis Diderot? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: One of the most famous sayings attributed to Abraham Lincoln is about deception: You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. I was astounded to …
Continue reading “You Cannot Fool All the People All the Time”
John A. Shedd? Grace Hopper? Albert Einstein? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: On December 9, 2013 the Google Doodle honored the pioneering computer scientist and U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. Here are two versions of a quotation that is often attributed to her: A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what …
Continue reading “A Ship in Harbor Is Safe, But that Is Not What Ships Are Built For”
Miriam Hopkins? Apocryphal? Dear Quote investigator: While watching the television show “The Voice” a friend told me about an entertaining zinger. One singer was trying to impress another singer by describing an insurance policy: Singer 1: “I Insured My Voice for One Million Dollars.” Singer 2: “Wonderful! What Did You Do with the Money?” A …
Continue reading ““I Insured My Voice for $1,000,000.” “Wonderful! What Did You Do with the Money?””
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following quotation about the value of exercise is attributed to the transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson: When you have worn out your shoes, the strength of the shoe leather has passed into the fiber of your body. I searched for this expression in a database of writings …
Continue reading “The Strength of the Sole Leather Has Passed into the Fibre of Your Body”