Tracing Quotations
Helen Keller? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A website on education policy began a recent article with a statement attributed to Helen Keller: Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. No citation was given. Would you please examine this saying? Reply from Quote Investigator: There is good evidence that Helen …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Alone We Can Do So Little. Together We Can Do So Much”
Swedish Councilor? Benjamin Disraeli? Australian Alderman? Casey Motsisi? Dennis Skinner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently on twitter I saw a joke about the limits placed on unparliamentary language in Britain. A photo depicted an unhappy contemporary politician in the House of Commons with a caption similar to the following: Politician: Half the members of …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Half of the Town Councilors Are Not Fools”
Nathaniel Hawthorne? Henry David Thoreau? L.? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: An ingenious and lovely simile about happiness is confusingly attributed to two prominent literary figures: Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau. Here are two versions: Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which, if you will …
Albert Einstein? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: My University has an Academic Integrity Office which has launched a poster campaign that includes an image of Albert Einstein together with the following statement which has been ascribed to the brilliant physicist: Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted with large ones …
Thomas R. Ybarra? Contributor to Life Magazine? Victor L. Berger? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Individuals who attend church services without sincerity have long been criticized with the following sardonic description: Those who repent on Sunday, For what they did on Saturday, And plan to do again on Monday. I have been unable to determine …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Repentance on a Sunday for What One Has Done on Saturday”
Carl Sagan? Arthur Hays Sulzberger? Marianne Moore? E. E Cummings? William Allan Neilson? Walter Kotschnig? Samuel Butler? G. K. Chesterton? Max Radin? James Oberg? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a desirable balance between exploring novel ideas with an open mind and maintaining a healthy skepticism. The following humorous cautionary statement exemplifies the tension: …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Do Not Be So Open-Minded That Your Brains Fall Out”
P.T. Barnum? Hungry Joe Lewis? Artemus Ward? Mike McDonald? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous saying about gullibility is usually attributed to the well-known showman P. T. Barnum. Here are two versions: There’s a sucker born every minute. There’s a fool born every minute. Whether Barnum actually used either of these expressions is …
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Alfred Lord Tennyson? Claudia Adrienne Grandi? Claudia Ghandi? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The website of a major international news organization has an article titled “Tennyson: 10 Essential Quotes” with the following item listed third: If I had a flower for every time I thought of you… I could walk through my garden forever. Strangely, …
Frank A. Patterson Jr.? Maya Angelou? Carl W. Buehner? Carl W. Buechner? Carol Buchner? Don Aslett? Jerry Johnston? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The most valuable advice that I have ever heard for speakers and teachers is the following: They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. …
Russell B. Long? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: It’s tax time again in the U.S., and I recently heard a humorous rhyming verse on this topic: Don’t tax you. Don’t tax me. Tax the guy behind the tree. Do you know who originally said this? Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest close match for this …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Don’t Tax You. Don’t Tax Me. Tax That Fellow Behind the Tree”