Tracing Quotations
Blaise Pascal? John Locke? Benjamin Franklin? Henry David Thoreau? Cicero? Woodrow Wilson? Question for Quote Investigator: I was planning to end a letter with the following remark: If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter. But the number of different people credited with this comment is so numerous that an explanatory …
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Teachers’ Conference in 1703? The Rural American Teacher of 1929? Gene Zirkel? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Everyone who works in the area formed by the intersection of education and technology has probably seen a hilarious collection of quotations that outlines the remarkable historical changes in education. Last month I saw these quotes, yet again, in …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Students Today Can’t Prepare Bark to Calculate Their Problems”
Thomas Edison? Martin André Rosanoff? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: All the rules and regulations of the modern world can be quite aggravating. That is why I greatly enjoy the following quotation proclaimed by Thomas Edison to the employees in his Menlo Park laboratory: Hell, there are no rules here. We’re trying to accomplish something. …
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.? Vermont Legislature? Albert Bushnell Hart? IRS Building? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: It is tax time in the U.S., and I have a question about the inscription engraved on the exterior of the IRS Building in Washington D.C.: Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society The IRS website credited the …
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Thomas Edison? Samuel Insull? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I am curious about a quote attributed to the remarkable inventor Thomas Edison: We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles. What proof exists that Edison actually said this? It’s such a visionary prediction that I’d love for it to be …
Richard Bach? Jess Lair? Anonymous student? Sting? Peter Max? Chantal Sicile? Question for Quote Investigator: On his first solo album in 1985 the musician Sting released a song called: If You Love Somebody Set Them Free Recently, I heard more elaborate quotations that included the above statement: If you love something, let it go. If …
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Andy Warhol? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The expression “fifteen minutes of fame” is based on a quotation by the influential Pop artist Andy Warhol. But what exactly did he say and when did he say it? Reply from Quote Investigator: Warhol’s notable maxim about the transience of fame has been popular for much longer …
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Albert Einstein? Samuel Johnson? Sophonisba Breckinridge? John Brunner? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The depth and breadth of information available on the internet is wondrous. Here are three examples from a family of pertinent sayings I came across recently: 1) I don’t need to know everything; I just need to know where to find it, …
Bertrand Russell? William James? Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.? Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.? Question for Quote Investigator: The eminent philosopher Bertrand Russell discussed visions and experiences in his major opus “A History of Western Philosophy” in 1945. Russell noted that subjective experiences were not always reliable: William James describes a man who got the experience from …
William James? Dorothy Parker? Ogden Nash? Mrs. Amos Pinchot? Alice Duer Miller? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I read a wild story about William James, the prominent psychologist, educator, and philosopher. One night he experimented with the psychoactive gas nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas. While experiencing a reverie James became convinced that …