Tracing Quotations
Winston Churchill? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Winston Churchill once spoke about the “undying genius” of his fellow citizens while exhorting them to make a “supreme effort” to maintain a successful country. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In 1952 Winston Churchill visited his alma mater, the Harrow School in London, …
Continue reading “A Place and Station To Which Our Tradition and Undying Genius Entitle Us”
Franz Kafka? Leo Longanesi? Robert Browning? Jean Anouilh? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A derisive remark aimed at politically motivated groups of people has been attributed to the influential short-story writer Franz Kafka. Here is the German version followed by an English translation: Ein Idiot ist ein Idiot. Zwei Idioten sind zwei Idioten. Zehntausend Idioten sind …
Albert Einstein? John Archibald Wheeler? A. P. Barton? Bertram Carr? Mirjana R. Gearhart? H. Jackson Brown Jr.? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Everyone experiences challenges and difficulties. Happily, while surmounting these obstacles it is often possible to glimpse wonderful possibilities for the future. Here is a pertinent saying: In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. This …
Continue reading “In the Middle of Difficulty Lies Opportunity”
Nikola Tesla? Orrin E. Dunlap Jr.? Thomas P. Hughes? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous inventor and futurist Nikola Tesla apparently said the following: Be alone, that is the secret of invention. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In 1934 Nikola Tesla was interviewed in “The New York Times” by …
Continue reading “Be Alone, That Is the Secret of Invention; Be Alone, That Is When Ideas Are Born”
Franz Kafka? Max Brod? Jonathan Franzen? Josef Paul Hodin? Georg Lukács? Harold Bloom? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: In 2019 acclaimed author Jonathan Franzen wrote an essay in “The New Yorker” that began with the following remark of despair attributed to the influential Prague-born writer Franz Kafka. There is infinite hope; only not for us. Here …
Continue reading “Plenty of Hope; Infinite Hope; Just Not for Us”
William Safire? Marie Shear? Cornell Daily Sun? Walter Gieber? Inis L. Claude Jr.? Ben Yagoda? Jack L. Walker? John Leonard? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A U.S. song that was popular during the Great Depression era depicted an impoverished person making a plaintive request: Brother, can you spare a dime? This song title inspired the creation …
David Hilbert? Mary Winston Newson? Adolphe Quetelet? Joseph Diez Gergonne? Michel Chasles? William Spottiswoode? Henry John Stephen Smith? G. Carey Foster? Alphonse Rebière? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: In 1900 the influential German mathematician David Hilbert addressed the “International Congress of Mathematicians” held in Paris. He presented a collection of unsolved problems which has had an …
Continue reading “A Theory Is Not Complete Until You Can Explain It To the Person in the Street”
George Bernard Shaw? Mary McCarthy? Thomas Szasz? Sydney J. Harris? Helen A. De Rosis? Victoria Y. Pellegrino? Karen Horney? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: For decades pop-psychology has emphasized the task of “finding yourself”, i.e., identifying your deepest values, abilities, feelings, and desires. Yet, these qualities are not immutable. Instead, living fully means endlessly recreating yourself. …
Continue reading “Life Is Not About Finding Yourself. Life Is About Creating Yourself”
Stephen King? Robert Bloch? Bennett Cerf? Gahan Wilson? Dear Quote Investigator: A famous horror writer employed a comically gruesome paraprosdokian when discussing temperament. There are many phrasings for this quip. Here is one: I have the heart of a child. I keep it in a jar on my desk. This joke has been attributed to …
Bruce Lee? Margaret of Valois? Sir John Fenwick? Isabel Burton? Richard Francis Burton? Arabic Apothegm? Asian Saying? Charles Haddon Spurgeon? Park Ludlow? Theron Brown? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following four part saying is about knowledge and self-knowledge: He who knows not, and knows not he knows not, is a fool; shun him. He who …
Continue reading “He Who Knows, and Knows Not He Knows, Is Asleep; Awaken Him”