Dale Carnegie? Lee de Forest? Dorothy Carnegie? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Dale Carnegie was a popular author of self-improvement books. He once argued against premature discouragement by asserting that most remarkable achievements had been attained by people who continued to try even when no hope seemed possible. Would you please help me to find a …
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A Hero Is an Ordinary Individual Who Finds the Strength To Persevere and Endure in Spite of Overwhelming Obstacles
Christopher Reeve? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Actor Christopher Reeve achieved enormous fame when he played the title character in the 1978 movie “Superman”. He suffered a tragic accident during an equestrian competition in 1995 which injured his spine and paralyzed part of his body. His life experiences caused him to change his perception of heroism. …
Censors Tend To Do What Only Psychotics Do; They Confuse Reality With Illusion
David Cronenberg? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The prominent Canadian director David Cronenberg is best known for filming graphic horror movies. He vehemently disagrees with any restrictions on the material he depicts in his works. Apparently, he once compared a censor to a psychotic because he believed both confused illusion and reality. Would you please help …
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The Best Time To Plant a Tree Was 30 Years Ago, and the Second Best Time To Plant a Tree Is Now
George W. White? Confucius? Chinese Saying? Jean Chretien? Earl Ubell? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The payoff for some actions only occurs after a lengthy delay. For example, a newly planted fruit tree requires years of growth before it can generate a bumper harvest. Also, a shade tree may require decades of maturation before it produces …
Quote Origin: During Christmas People Will Forget the Past With a Present
Gladys Parker? Don Marquis? Walter Winchell? Uncle Ezra? Phyllis Diller? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A collection of Christmas season quips employ wordplay based on “past” and “present”. Here are two examples: What I like about Christmas is that you can make people forget the past with a present. At Christmas time youngsters want the …
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Science Can Never Solve One Problem Without Raising Ten More Problems
George Bernard Shaw? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Scientific knowledge is incomplete and tentative. Superior scientific theories regularly supersede existing theories. The knowledge provided is flawed, but the process is self-correcting and self-improving. Irish playwright and activist George Bernard Shaw bluntly stated that science was always wrong. He believed that every time science solved a problem …
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You’re Never Too Old To Become Younger
Mae West? George Christy? Barbara Rowes? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A prominent movie star delivered a paradoxical line about aging: You are never too old to become younger. Would you please help to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In 1969 Hollywood columnist George Christy interviewed the famous actress Mae West in the pages of “The …
It Isn’t Enough To Write So You Will Be Understood. You Have To Write So You Can’t Be Misunderstood
Quintilian? William Cobbett? John Cooke? Charles Haddon Spurgeon? W. E. Smith? Walter Winchell? Rollin D. Salisbury? William H. Taft? Dear Quote Investigator: A maxim about the goal of communication expresses an ideal that is desirable but nearly impossible to achieve. Here are three versions: (1) You must not only speak so that people can understand …
Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence
Carl Sagan? Marcello Truzzi? Pierre-Simon Laplace? David Hume? Benjamin Bayly? Elihu Palmer? William Craig Brownlee? F. B. Barton? William Denton? Ely Vaughan Zollars? Joseph Rinn? James Oberg? Arthur C. Clarke? Dear Quote Investigator: Tabloid newspapers have printed remarkable claims about alien abductions, mischievous ghosts, bigfoot sightings, and other anomalies. Skeptics have countered these reports by …
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There Is One Thing In This World That Money Can’t Buy, The Wag Of a Dog’s Tail
Josh Billings? Henry Wheeler Shaw? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A dog wagging its tail energetically produces joy in my heart. The dog is usually expressing genuine enthusiasm. A well-known writer once said that money could not buy a wagging tail. Would you please help me to identify the writer and find a citation? Quote Investigator: …
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