Ralph Waldo Emerson? John Ruskin? Charles Kingsley? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Extraordinary scenes of beauty can uplift one’s spirit. The following remark is often attributed to the philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson: Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God’s handwriting. I searched in a database of …
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Quote Origin: War Is God’s Way of Teaching Us Geography
Ambrose Bierce? Paul Rodriguez? Jon Stewart? Mark Twain? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Many people are unable to find countries and major cities on a map. A comical remark about this cartographical ignorance has been attributed to both Ambrose Bierce and Mark Twain. Here are four versions: I searched in Bierce’s “The Devil’s Dictionary” and …
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Quote Origin: Speak When You’re Angry and You’ll Make the Best Speech You’ll Ever Regret
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. …
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 …