Oscar Wilde? Felix Unger? Tony Randall? John Glick? Clarence L. Lollar? Dick West? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Making unfounded assumptions causes endless difficulties. A clever quip highlighting this problem is based on splitting a word into three parts: It is dangerous to assume because you might make an “ass” out of “u” and “me”. …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: Comparison Is the Thief of Joy
Theodore Roosevelt? Mark Twain? C. S. Lewis? Dwight Edwards? John Powell? Ray Cummings? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Comparing your status to others often produces envy and unhappiness. Here are four instances from a family of pertinent adages: Statesman Theodore Roosevelt, humorist Mark Twain, author C. S. Lewis, and religious figure Dwight Edwards have all …
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Quote Origin: Bicycle Riding, If Persisted In, Leads To Weakness of Mind, General Lunacy, and Homicidal Mania
The New York Times? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator A major U.S. newspaper supposedly published an article that claims riding a bicycle inevitably leads to general lunacy and homicidal mania. This assertion sounds satirical. Does this article actually exist? Reply from Quote Investigator: On August 12, 1894 “The New York Times” published an article titled …
Quote Origin: The Lecture Is an Obsolete Practice Dating From the Middle Ages When Books Were Scarce
Virginia Woolf? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Apparently, the prominent English writer Virginia Woolf thought that transmitting knowledge via lectures was a “vain and vicious system”. She also stated that lecturing was “an obsolete practice dating from the Middle Ages”. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: Virginia Woolf …
Quote Origin: The Greatest Shortcoming of the Human Race Is Man’s Inability To Understand the Exponential Function
Albert A. Bartlett? William Dillinger? Paul A. Tipler? David Suzuki? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: What do the following have in common: computing power, internet communication traffic, human population, energy use? Each has experienced exponential growth. The full implications of such rapid changes are difficult to grasp. A scientist has asserted that the incomprehension of …
Quote Origin: Conditions Are Never Just Right
William Feather? John R. Gunn? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: When commencing a significant new endeavor in life it is tempting to wait until conditions are perfect, but that never occurs. Delays are often the result of indecisiveness, fear, or procrastination. Yet, one must move forward. The successful publisher and printer William Feather expressed the …
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Quote Origin: As Long As I Count the Votes, What Are You Going To Do About It?
William Marcy Tweed? Boss Tweed? Thomas Nast? Zack Chandler? Napoleon Bonaparte? Joseph Stalin? Boris Bazhanov? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Remarks about the manipulation of vote tabulations have a long history. Apparently, a corrupt leader made a cynical pronouncement about voting. Here are three versions: Would you please explore this family of sayings? Reply from …
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Quote Origin: People Ask You for Criticism, But They Only Want Praise
W. Somerset Maugham? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Often a request for criticism is really an appeal for approval or accolades. English playwright and novelist W. Somerset Maugham made a similar observation. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1915 W. Somerset Maugham published the popular novel “Of …
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Quote Origin: I Love Criticism as Long as It Is Unqualified Praise
Noel Coward? Frank Sinatra? Margaret McManus? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The popular English playwright Noel Coward apparently once suggested that he welcomed any amount of criticism as long as it was unqualified praise. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: In January 1956 Noel Coward was interviewed by …
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Quote Origin: The New York Review of Each Other’s Books
Alan Levy? Ron Wellburn? Richard Hofstadter? Christopher Lehmann-Haupt? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A clique can form around a cultural organization or periodical and transform it into an insular mutual admiration society. Detractors of “The New York Review of Books” have given the journal the following nickname: The New York Review of Each Other’s Books …
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