David Lloyd George? Ambrose Bierce? Garry Davis? Arianna Huffington? Benjamin Disraeli? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Arianna Huffington who is well-known for creating the website “The Huffington Post” once employed a vivid and astute saying about commitment and the need to take decisive actions: You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps. She attributed …
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Quote Origin: The Jawbone of an Ass
Oscar Wilde? Lord Paget? Henry Watterson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: In modern times a philistine is an uncultured anti-intellectual. In the Bible the Philistine people were enemies of the Israelites. Samson successfully fought against an army of Philistines while wielding the jawbone of an ass (donkey) as a devastating weapon. This background information allows …
Quote Origin: We Don’t See Things As They Are, We See Them As We Are
Anaïs Nin? Babylonian Talmud? Immanuel Kant? G. T. W. Patrick? H. M. Tomlinson? Steven Covey? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Our preconceptions can dramatically alter the way we perceive the world. There is a saying attributed to the prominent writer Anaïs Nin that reflects this idea: We don’t see things as they are; we see …
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Quote Origin: You Just Can’t Beat the Person Who Never Gives Up
Babe Ruth? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: George Herman Ruth Jr. was one of the greatest baseball players in history. His famous nickname was Babe Ruth. A popular adage about perseverance and tenacity has been attributed to him. Here are three versions I have found: (1) You just can’t beat the person who never gives …
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Quote Origin: Any Fool Can Paint a Picture, But It Takes a Wise Person To Be Able To Sell It
Samuel Butler? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I’ve always wanted to be an artist. But digitization and the internet have upended so many domains, e.g., music, photography, graphic art, and books. Now there are artists raising money on Kickstarter. Apparently, you cannot simply create a work of art; you must personally market and promote …
Quote Origin: You Can’t Use Up Creativity. The More You Use, The More You Have
Maya Angelou? Oscar Wilde? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently on Pinterest and Twitter I have seen the following quotation attributed to the famous wit Oscar Wilde: You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. However, I thought these were the words of the acclaimed poet and memoirist Maya Angelou. …
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Quote Origin: If I Am To Speak Ten Minutes, I Need a Week for Preparation; If an Hour, I Am Ready Now
Woodrow Wilson? Abraham Lincoln? Rufus Choate? Thomas B. Macaulay? William Howard Taft? Mark Twain? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A biography of President Woodrow Wilson included an entertaining quotation about the preparation time needed for speeches of varying lengths. Here is an excerpt from the book: A member of the Cabinet congratulated Wilson on introducing …
Quote Origin: The Person Who is Clever and Lazy Qualifies for the Highest Leadership Posts
Helmuth von Moltke the Elder? Erich von Manstein? Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord? Douglas MacArthur? Frederick the Great? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: In self-help books I have repeatedly seen a two-by-two matrix used to evaluate individuals. The four elements in the matrix were labeled: Brilliant & Lazy, Brilliant & Energetic, Dumb & Lazy, and Dumb & …
Quote Origin: Choose a Lazy Person To Do a Hard Job Because That Person Will Find an Easy Way To Do It
Bill Gates? Frank Gilbreth Sr., Clarence Bleicher? Walter Chrysler? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a quotation offering eccentric advice that is often attributed to the billionaire software magnate Bill Gates: I will always choose a lazy person to do a difficult (or hard) job because a lazy person will find an easy …
Quote Origin: If You Are Not a Liberal at 25, You Have No Heart. If You Are Not a Conservative at 35 You Have No Brain
Edmund Burke? Anselme Batbie? Victor Hugo? King Oscar II of Sweden? George Bernard Shaw? François Guizot? Jules Claretie? Georges Clemenceau? Benjamin Disraeli? Winston Churchill? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Some individuals change their political orientation as they grow older. There is a family of sayings that present a mordant judgment on this ideological evolution. Here …