Tracing Quotations
Benjamin Franklin? George S. Patton? G. E. Marchand? Gertrude Nelson Andrews? Nicholas Murray Butler? George Lawton? Peter McWilliams? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Living fully during each day of one’s allotted time in this world is an admirable goal, yet few achieve this objective. Here are two versions of a humorous and melancholy comment often credited …
Continue reading “Many People Die at Twenty-Five and Aren’t Buried Until They Are Seventy-Five”
Niels Bohr? Hans Bohr? Werner Heisenberg? Oscar Wilde? Emilio Segrè? Carl Sagan? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A famous scientist once asserted something like this: The opposite of a deep truth is another deep truth. Would you please help me to find a citation and the correct phrasing? Quote Investigator: In 1949 the prominent physicist Niels …
Continue reading “Deep Truths Are Statements in Which the Opposite Also Contains Deep Truth”
Oscar Wilde? Niels Bohr? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Sometimes a narrow logical analysis is not enough to understand a topic. In the realm of art, the negation of a truth may yield another truth. The famous wit Oscar Wilde once made a claim of this type. Would you please help me to find a citation. …
Continue reading “A Truth in Art Is That Whose Contradictory Is Also True”
Mark Zuckerberg? Neal Stephenson? William Gibson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Recently, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company was changing its name to Meta (full name Meta Platforms). Zuckerberg spoke about an immersive internet called the metaverse. I think some science fiction (SF) author coined the term metaverse. Would you please explore this topic? …
Continue reading “In the Lingo, This Imaginary Place Is Known as the Metaverse”
Will Rogers? Charles F. Kettering? Max Denney? Thomas Jefferson? Robert Heinlein? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Many complain about the burdensome taxes collected by some governments. Many also complain about the counter-productive and wasteful actions taken by those governments. These criticisms have been combined to produce the following comical remark: Thank heavens we don’t get all …
Continue reading “Thank Goodness We Don’t Get As Much Government As We Pay For”
Edward H. Eulenberg? Arnold A. Dornfeld? Rolfe Neill? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Journalism is a difficult profession. Major stories are often complex and ill-defined. Witnesses and experts may be self-interested and unreliable. The following motto for reporters highlights the need to double-check every bit of information: If your mother tells you she loves you, check …
Continue reading “If Your Mother Says She Loves You, Check On It”
Béla Bartók? Joseph Szigeti? Nick Cave? A. M. Rosenthal? Joe Eszterhas? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Competitions are commonplace in the world of athletics, academics, arts, and business. The acclaimed Hungarian composer Béla Bartók apparently expressed opposition to high-stakes contests in the domain of music. Here are four English versions of his remark: (1) Competitions are …
Continue reading “Competitions Are for Horses, Not for Artists”
Oscar Wilde? Robert Ross? Frank Harris? Hesketh Pearson? Josiah Flynt? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: According to legend, Oscar Wilde was resting with his eyes closed on his deathbed when two physicians began discussing the necessity of a very expensive operation to extend his life. Wilde opened his eyes and said: I suppose that I shall …
Continue reading “I Am Dying, As I Have Lived, Beyond My Means”
Friedrich Nietzsche? Josh Billings? Thomas Common? Alexander Tille? Walter Kaufmann? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular humorist or a famous philosopher said something like the following: It is better to know nothing than to half-know many topics. Would you please help me to find the correct statement of this adage and the name of its …
Continue reading “Better Know Nothing Than Half-Know Many Things”
Oscar Wilde? Claire de Pratz? Léon Guillot de Saix? Lady Gregory? William Butler Yeats? Hesketh Pearson? Philippe Jullian? Violet Wyndham? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Near the end of Oscar Wilde’s life he was debt-ridden and ill. His shabby accommodations in Paris did not meet his aesthetic standards. According to legend he said something similar to …
Continue reading “This Wallpaper Is Killing Me; One of Us Must Go”