Henry David Thoreau? Grace Goodman Mauran? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The essayist and transcendentalist philosopher Henry David Thoreau found cats intriguing. He was disappointed that humanity knew “absolutely nothing of the origin and destiny of cats.” Would you please help me to find a citation for this remark about cats? Reply from Quote Investigator: …
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A Novel Can Be Cleaned Up. Life Is One Big Messy Rough Draft
Harlan Coben? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A best-selling author once stated something like the following: The world of fiction is superior to the real world because a writer is capable of altering and improving a fictional realm, but the real world is always a big messy rough draft. Would you please help me to …
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Seek Happiness in Tranquility and Avoid Ambition
Mary Shelley? Victor Frankenstein? Scott Galloway? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: English author Mary Shelley penned the famous science fiction novel “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus”. The overweening ambition of the main character, scientist Victor Frankenstein, caused him to create a monster. He learned bitterly that his passion for success and fame was destructive. Apparently, …
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All of Us Are Creatures of a Day; the Rememberer and the Remembered Alike
Marcus Aurelius? Irvin D. Yalom? George Long? John Jackson? Martin Hammond? Ivar Lissner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The book “Creatures of a Day: And Other Tales of Psychotherapy” by U.S. psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom begins with the following passage attributed to Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius in “The Meditations”:[1] 2015, Creatures of …
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A Sense of Humor Is Just Common Sense Dancing
William James? Clive James? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A thoughtful person constructed the following vivid metaphor: A sense of humor is just common sense dancing. The U.S. philosopher William James and the Australian critic Clive James have both received credit for this statement. I am uncertain of these ascriptions because I have not seen …
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I Think Everybody Should Get Rich and Famous So They Can See That That’s Not the Answer
Jim Carrey? Jay Stone? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous movie star once said that everyone should experience becoming rich and famous because it would be clear that wealth and fame are not the answer to life’s conundrums. Would you please explore this topic? Reply from Quote Investigator: In December 2005 Canadian actor and …
To Understand a Person You Have To Know What Was Happening in the World When That Person Was Twenty
Napoleon Bonaparte? G. M. Young? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The years of early adulthood are crucial to the formation of an entire outlook toward life. You have to know what was happening in the world when a person was twenty to understand that person. This notion has been ascribed to the French military leader …
Quote Origin: When Everybody Thinks Alike, Nobody Will Think At All
George Patton? Benjamin Franklin? Walter Lippmann? John F. Kennedy? Sue Myrick? Edward Krehbiel? Jonathan P. Dolliver? Humphrey B. Neill? Eric Schmidt? Porter B. Williamson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Conformity is a powerful force that narrows the thought patterns of groups and individuals. Here are three selections from a family of pertinent sayings: (1) Where …
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Becoming Is Better Than Being
Carol Dweck? Paul Klee? Thomas Oliver? Martin Heidegger? Victor Branford? Sarah Frances Brown? Charles Hartshorne? Alfred North Whitehead? Question for Quote Investigator: When you are living a full life you are always changing and growing. You are not inert or stagnant. Here are two versions of a pertinent adage: (1) Becoming is better than being. …
Quote Origin: In the Sublime War of Humanity Against Reality, Humanity Has But One Weapon, The Imagination
Lewis Carroll? Cheshire Cat? C. S. Lewis? Jules de Gaultier? Benjamin de Casseres? Percy Bysshe Shelley? Herbert Kaufman? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Reality can be cold and disheartening. Yet, humans have the extraordinary facility to imagine a different and more entertaining universe. Here are two versions of a pertinent saying: (1) Imagination is the …