Tracing Quotations
Wolcott Gibbs? Alexander Woollcott? Else Rempel? Thomas Vinciguerra? Guinness Book of World Records? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: I love stories about funny theatrical reviews. A prominent critic once attended a performance of a show called “Wham!” and published the amusingly concise evaluation “Ouch!” This pithy critique has been attributed to Wolcott Gibbs and Alexander Woollcott …
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Isaac Asimov? Michio Kaku? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Science has been extraordinarily successful in making impressive discoveries. Yet, humankind’s thoughtfulness and judgement have been severely tested by the new insights and capabilities that have emerged. A prominent science fiction author said: Science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. Would you please help me to …
Continue reading “Science Gathers Knowledge Faster Than Society Gathers Wisdom”
Albert Camus? Blanche Balain? Justin O’Brien? Herbert R. Lottman? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: It is natural for a few aspects of each individual to be atypical or divergent. For many people extraordinary energy is needed simply to appear normal. The famous French philosopher Albert Camus apparently mentioned this in “The Myth of Sisyphus” or in …
Continue reading “Nobody Realizes That Some People Expend Tremendous Energy Merely To Be Normal”
Mary Wilson Little? Nancy Astor? Charley Jones? Cholly Knickerbocker? Earl Wilson? Junius? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: If one climbs the social ladder the result can be surprising. People who once snubbed you will allow you to enter their social circle. Yet, attending their gatherings often results in boredom. This observation has been attributed to the …
Continue reading “The Penalty of Success Is To Be Bored By the People Who Used To Snub You”
Booker T. Washington? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The true measure of success in life is not determined solely by the position one attains. Instead, the measure must consider the obstacles one has overcome. The prominent educator and author Booker T. Washington said something like this. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote …
Warren Bennis? Fred Lamond? Jerry L. Benefield? British Post Office Engineering Union? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A humorous and cautionary prediction states that the automated factory of the future will have only two employees: one human and one dog: The human feeds the dog. The dog makes sure no one touches the equipment. This notion …
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Edith Wharton? Ezra Pound? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A classic work must be timeless, and it must also exhibit an irrepressible freshness. This notion has been attributed to the prominent U.S. novelist Edith Wharton and the well-known poet and critic Ezra Pound. Would you please help me to resolve this uncertainty? Quote Investigator: In 1934 …
Continue reading “It Is Classic Because of a Certain Eternal and Irrepressible Freshness”
Marie Beynon Ray? Francis Bacon? Henry David Thoreau? W. Somerset Maugham? Booth Tarkington? Question for Quote Investigator: Our life on Earth does not extend forever. A writer once used two vivid and clashing metaphors to describe this precious moment: Sparkling like a star in our hands and melting like a snowflake This figurative language has …
Dorothy Parker? Mae West? Alexander Woollcott? A. E. Mortimer? Mark Barron? Meyer Levin? Billy Boner? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The U.S. poet and wit Dorothy Parker has received credit for scandalous wordplay based on the following phrases: Sliding down a banister Sliding down a barrister Would you please explore this topic? Quote Investigator: The earliest …
Will Rogers? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The evaluation of art is subjective. The popular U.S. humorist Will Rogers once said something like: You can call yourself an artist because nobody can prove you ain’t. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In 1926 Will Rogers published “Letters of a Self-Made Diplomat …
Continue reading “Artist: The One Thing You Can Claim To Be and Nobody Can Prove You Ain’t”