Tracing Quotations
Anatole France? François Rabelais? Michel de Montaigne? Lewis Piaget Shanks? Will Durant? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The French Nobel laureate Anatole France was skeptical of martyrdom. Here are three versions of a statement attributed to him: To die for an idea is to set a pretty high value on conjectures. To die for an idea …
Continue reading “To Die for an Idea Is To Place a Very High Price Upon Conjecture”
Howard Hawks? Martin Kasindorf? Alejandro Jodorowsky? Gene Siskel? Roger Ebert? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Howard Hawks was a leading director during the Golden Age of Hollywood. His oeuvre included “Scarface”, “Bringing Up Baby”, “The Big Sleep”, and “His Girl Friday”. He was never pretentious, and he followed a pragmatic strategy for creating his hugely successful …
Martin Luther King? Elizabeth Tipton Derieux? Alton Hawkins? United Presbyterian Church? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A political activist once stated something like the following: Peace is more than the absence of conflict and tension. Genuine peace requires the presence of justice. This notion has been attributed to Martin Luther King Jr. Would you please explore …
Continue reading “True Peace Is Not Merely the Absence of Tension; It Is the Presence of Justice”
Buckaroo Banzai? Peter Weller? Earl Mac Rauch? Thomas à Kempis? W. H. Hutchings? Jim Russell? Jacqueline? C. Gordon Furbish? Jon Kabat-Zinn? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following saying is a profound guideline for mindfulness meditation; alternatively, it is a fun absurdist joke. Here are three versions: Wherever you go, there you are. No matter where …
George Bernard Shaw? Oscar Wilde? Clarence Rook? Alexander Woollcott? Hesketh Pearson? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A playwright feared that his upcoming work was about to flop at the box office. After the surprisingly successful inaugural performance the bewildered playwright appeared on stage. Amongst the resounding cheers there was a barely audible hiss. The playwright addressed …
Continue reading “I Quite Agree With You, But Who Are We Two Against So Many?”
Elizabeth Warren? Ann Richards? Julia Louis-Dreyfus? Cecile Richards? Pat Rusk? David Horowitz? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: If one wishes to influence a decision then one must be present at the negotiation table. If one is absent then an unfavorable decision is likely. Metaphorically, one’s rights and interests will be consumed by the other participants at …
Continue reading “If You Are Not at the Table Then You’re Probably on the Menu”
Herbert A. Simon? Hubert L. Dreyfus? Raymond Kurzweil? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The field of artificial intelligence (AI) has achieved several remarkable triumphs in recent years. For example, in 2017 the number one ranked Go player in the world was beaten by a computer program called AlphaGo. Yet, the progress of AI has been much …
Oscar Wilde? Titus Lucretius Carus? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: One person may enjoy a food or activity that another person finds repellent. A well-known adage expresses this notion: One man’s meat is another man’s poison. The following funny variant has been attributed to the famous wit Oscar Wilde: One man’s poetry is another man’s poison. …
Abraham Lincoln? Francis Bicknell Carpenter? Carl Sandburg? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Apparently Abraham Lincoln employed a vividly powerful metaphor when discussing the people’s responsibility during an election. The precise phrasing is uncertain. Here is one version: If the people turn their backs to a fire they will burn their behinds, and they will just have …
Satchel Paige? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous baseball player Satchel Paige once offered advice about staying young at heart. Here are three versions: Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you. Don’t look back. Somebody may be gaining on you. Never look back. You might see someone overtaking you. Would you please help …
Continue reading “Don’t Look Back. Something Might Be Gaining On You”