Ambrose Bierce? Henry Ward Beecher? Laurence J. Peter? Groucho Marx? Harry H. Jones? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The rant of an enraged person often contains statements that necessitate contrite apologies later. Here is an adage reflecting this insight: Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret. …
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Quote Origin: There Is No Expedient to which a Man Will Not Resort to Avoid the Real Labor of Thinking
Thomas Edison? Joshua Reynolds? Irving Babbitt? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A piquant statement about mental laziness is attributed to the inventor and research laboratory pioneer Thomas A. Edison. Here are two versions: There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking. There is no expedient to …
Quote Origin: Keep a Diary, and Perhaps Someday It Will Keep You
Mae West? Margot Asquith? Lillie Langtry? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The movie star, screenwriter, and sex symbol Mae West once spoke a humorous line about keeping a diary, but I do not recall the precise phrasing. She said a diary might provide the diarist with financial support in the future. Are you familiar with …
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Quote Origin: What Is Important Is Seldom Urgent and What Is Urgent Is Seldom Important
Dwight D. Eisenhower? John Le Carré? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a popular time management scheme called the Eisenhower Decision Principle or the Eisenhower Matrix which is named after U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Every task is evaluated based on two axes: important/unimportant and urgent/not urgent. There are different rules for each type …
Quote Origin: If Your Only Tool Is a Hammer Then Every Problem Looks Like a Nail
Mark Twain? Abraham Maslow? Abraham Kaplan? Silvan Tomkins? Kenneth Mark Colby? Lee Loevinger? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The tools that we are able to apply to problems alter our perceptions of the challenges we face and the solutions that are appropriate. A popular adage illustrates this idea with a compelling analogy. Here are three …
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Quote Origin: It Is Not the Strongest of the Species that Survives But the Most Adaptable
Charles Darwin? Leon C. Megginson? Clarence Darrow? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following statement is often attributed to the famous scientist Charles Darwin, but I am skeptical: It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change. Shortened …
Quote Origin: There’s Nothing More Genuinely Artistic Than to Love People
Vincent van Gogh? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Vincent van Gogh was the boldest and most innovative painter of the 19th-century in my opinion. Here are two versions of a poignant statement that has been attributed to him: There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people. There’s nothing more genuinely artistic than to …
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Quote Origin: Common Sense Is Nothing More Than a Deposit of Prejudices Laid Down in the Mind Before Age Eighteen
Albert Einstein? Lincoln Barnett? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Albert Einstein’s astonishing theory of relativity is highly counter-intuitive. For example, the theory indicates that time can pass at different rates in different reference frames. This certainly challenges common sense. The following germane statement is attributed to Einstein: Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired …
Quote Origin: A Professor Is One Who Talks in Someone Else’s Sleep
W. H. Auden? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The acclaimed poet W. H. Auden popularized one of the funniest definitions for an academic: A professor is one who talks in someone else’s sleep. Do you know whether Auden crafted this quip? Reply from Quote Investigator: There is substantive evidence that W. H. Auden did …
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Quote Origin: Sex Appeal Is 50 Per Cent What You’ve Got and 50 Per Cent What People Think You’ve Got
Sophia Loren? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I am trying to recall an observation made in the 1950s or 1960s by a great beauty. I do not remember the precise wording. The essence of the quotation was that her attractiveness was 50 percent actual and 50 percent projected by others. Would you please help …