Oscar Wilde? Robert Ross? Rudolf Flesch? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Modern life seems to be extremely complicated, but the underlying principles of a worthwhile life are quite simple. I am reminded of the following quotation: Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing. These …
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Quote Origin: If Our American Way of Life Fails the Child, It Fails Us All
Pearl S. Buck? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following statement has been attributed to the prominent U.S. writer Pearl S. Buck: If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all. Would you please help me to find the context of this remark together with a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: …
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Quote Origin: We Live in a Science Fiction Age. Yesterday’s Fantasy Is Already Today’s Fact
Isaac Asimov? Leonard Nimoy? Allen Ginsberg? Jane Kramer? Donald A. Wollheim? Chester Whitehorn? Ric Ocasek? Greg Hawkes? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Nowadays technological changes are occurring with vertiginous rapidity, and I am reminded of statements like these: We live in a science-fiction age. Yesterday’s fantasy is already today’s fact. There’s nothing to be learned …
Quote Origin: Look for Three Qualities: Integrity, Intelligence and Energy. And If They Don’t Have the First, the Other Two Will Kill You
Warren Buffett? Anonymous? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Famous U.S. investor Warren Buffett once described the three traits he looked for in new employees. A worker should have integrity, intelligence, and energy. Apparently, Buffett believed that the first trait was crucial because its absence would cause the other two traits to kill a business. Would …
Quote Origin: Measure Their Progress, Not From the Heights to Which They May In Time Attain, But From the Depths From Which They Have Come
Frederick Douglass? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Whenever a person is being evaluated it is necessary to consider the adversities that have impeded their progress. One should measure the heights achieved, but one should also consider the original challenging depths experienced by an individual. The famous orator Frederick Douglass said something like this. Would you …
Quote Origin: Read, Read, Read. Read Everything—Trash, Classics, Good and Bad, and See How They Do It
William Faulkner? Stephen King? R. M. Allen? Lavon Rascoe? Lauren Passell? Ben Yagoda? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent novelist was once asked for advice by an aspiring author. The scribe offered the following crucial guidance: Read, read, read. Read everything. Highbrow, middlebrow, and lowbrow material were all deemed acceptable choices for scrutiny. Would …
Quote Origin: This Is Only a Work of Fiction. The Truth, As Always, Will Be Far Stranger
Arthur C. Clarke? Stanley Kubrick? Mark Twain? J. B. S. Haldane? Question for Quote Investigator: Rapid computer hardware and software developments combined with extreme speculations about a technological singularity have led some science fiction writers to complain that envisioning the future has become too difficult. I am reminded of the following disclaimer for a novel: …
Joke Origin: A Clear Conscience Is Usually a Sign of a Bad Memory
Mark Twain? Steven Wright? Senator Sorghum? Philander Chase Johnson? Neal O’Hara? Felix Nieto del Rio? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A morally upright individual strives to maintain a clear conscience. Yet, satisfying this goal is not always praiseworthy: Often a person with a clear conscience merely has a poor memory. This quip has been credited …
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Joke Origin: To Double Your Money You Should Simply Fold Your Bills and Put Them in Your Pocket
Kin Hubbard? Will Rogers? Elbert Hubbard? Abe Martin? Max Eastman? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Proselytizers for get-rich-quick schemes are ubiquitous online. A popular joke describes a comically easy way to obtain illusory wealth. Here are two versions: (1) To get rich you should convert your money to bills. Next, you should fold the bills, …
Quote Origin: A Mistake Is Just Another Way of Doing Things
Katharine Graham? Warren Bennis? Chris Hildyard? E. B. White? Luc de Clapiers? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Making mistakes in life is inevitable. Thus, learning to respond resiliently to setbacks is essential. A healthy perspective is presented by the following adage: A mistake is just another way of doing things. This statement has been credited …
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