Mark Twain? Merle Johnson? Caroline Thomas Harnsberger? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Mark Twain once spoke about the number of fools in the world. He did not believe that there were too many fools, but he did suggest that lightning strikes were not ideally distributed. Would you please help me to find a citation for this …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: I Don’t Work on Preventing AI from Turning Evil for the Same Reason That I Don’t Work on the Problem of Overpopulation on the Planet Mars
Andrew Ng? Nick Bostrom? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A top artificial intelligence (AI) researcher was asked whether he feared the possibility of malevolent superintelligent robots wreaking havoc in the near future, and he answered “No”. He illustrated his answer with the following analogy. Worrying about human overpopulation on Mars is fruitless. It is a distant …
Quote Origin: Dogs Are Our Link To Paradise. They Don’t Know Evil or Jealousy or Discontent
Milan Kundera? Anne Raver? Jan Karon? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The faithfulness and love exhibited by a pet dog can lead to an idealized perception. The Czech writer Milan Kundera has received credit for the following remark: Dogs are our link to paradise. I am uncertain about the accuracy of this attribution because I …
No Truth So Sublime But It May Be Trivial Tomorrow in the Light of New Thoughts
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Tryon Edwards? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: During one’s lifetime one may discover a truth that appears deep and beautiful. Yet, one must be willing to continuously grow and change. That supposed truth may later seem trivial or misleading. Personal development demands regular reevaluations. The transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson made a similar …
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Beauty Is Only Skin-Deep, But Ugly Goes Clean To the Bone
Dorothy Parker? Jean Kerr? Charles Whitehead? Simon Suggs Jr.? Sam Stackpole? Abe Martin? Kin Hubbard? Herbert Spencer? Mort Walker? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Beauty is only skin-deep according to an adage that can be traced back to the 1600s. This assertion has inspired a wide variety of twisted reactions and elaborations. Here are three closely …
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Quote Origin: Sunlight Is the Best Disinfectant
Louis Brandeis? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Robert Walter? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a family of sayings about the effectiveness of light for the destruction of noxious infectious agents. This family also includes metaphorical instances in which corrupt behavior is revealed and prevented via publicity. Here are some examples: Would you please explore this …
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Hold Fast To Dreams
Langston Hughes? Robert Frost? Zig Ziglar? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A poem about the need to maintain aspirational dreams employed a vivid metaphor based on a bird with a damaged wing. The author was Langston Hughes or Robert Frost. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In 1932 Langston Hughes published …
To Give Real Service You Must Add Something — Sincerity and Integrity
Douglas Adams? Donald A. Adams? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular business adage states that providing real service to a customer requires a crucial added ingredient known as sincerity and integrity. This notion has confusingly been credited to two different people: Douglas Adams and Donald A. Adams. The first was a science fiction humorist who …
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Music Begins Where Language Ends
Heinrich Heine? Claude Debussy? Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky? Richard Wagner? Leonora Schmitz? Henry R. Cleveland? Jean Sibelius? John S. Dwight? Ludwig van Beethoven? Anton Rubinstein? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The expressiveness of words is paltry in the domain of deeply felt emotions and sensations. Yet, music can resonate with these profound feelings. Here are two versions …
Where Words Leave Off, Music Begins
Heinrich Heine? Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular adage comments on the comparative expressiveness of words versus music. Here are two versions: Where words leave off, music begins Music begins where the spoken word ends Many people have been credited with this saying including the famous German poet and critic Heinrich Heine. …