Claude Debussy? Maurice Emmanuel? Léon Vallas? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Language is inadequate for conveying some deep emotions while music can arouse sensations and passions that are beyond words. Here are two versions of this sentiment: Music begins where words leave off Where words cease, music begins Many people have been credited with this adage …
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Where the Speech of Man Stops Short There Music’s Reign Begins
Richard Wagner? Henry Russell Cleveland? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Music can express thoughts and emotions which cannot be captured by words alone according to some romantic souls. Here are two versions of this sentiment: Where all words end, music begins Music begins where language ends Many people have been credited with this adage including the …
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A Politician Ought To Be Born a Foundling and Remain a Bachelor
Lady Bird Johnson? Barbara Rowes? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The demands placed upon politicians are intense. Minimal time can be allocated for family and friends. Lady Bird Johnson who was married to U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) once made a statement similar to the following: A politician should be born an orphan and remain …
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Quote Origin: Television? No Good Will Come of This Device. The Word Is Half Greek and Half Latin
C. P. Scott? Kenneth Adam? Bernard Levin? Harvey W. Wiley? Ivor Brown? H. L. Mencken? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: While reading a book about woefully inaccurate predictions I came across a humorously incongruous statement about a wildly successful gadget: Television? The word is half Greek, half Latin. No good can come of it. British …
Our Liberty Is Not the Right To Do As We Please, But the Opportunity To Please To Do What Is Right
Peter Marshall? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: I once heard an intriguing remark about action and autonomy. It was roughly the following: May freedom be seen, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right. These words were attributed to a U.S. religious figure, but I do …
Quote Origin: If It Wasn’t for Bad Luck I Wouldn’t Have Any Luck At All
Albert King? Booker T. Jones? William Bell? Dick Gregory? E. K. Means? Sidney Sutherland? Sidney Skolsky? Bill Brisson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular blues song from the 1960s contains the following memorable lament: If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all. How old is this mordant quip? Would …
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Quote Origin: Events, My Dear Boy, Events
Harold Macmillan? Winston Churchill? Adam Raphael? Peter Kellner? Kenneth Fleet? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Public figures around the world have faced major difficulties such as economic crashes, epidemics, and wars. Several decades ago, a powerful British politician experienced a series of setbacks during a period of economic and social upheaval. A journalist asked him …
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When They Say It’s Not About Money, It’s About Money
Abe Martin? Kin Hubbard? H. L. Mencken? Jim Courier? George Young? Gary Shelton? Mike Lupica? Dale Bumpers? Shannon Sharpe? Dear Quote Investigator: Contract negotiations are tough, and disputes usually involve money. Yet, participants sometimes highlight other issues as paramount. Jaded observers have crafted the following dictum: When they say it’s not about the money. Just …
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“How Many People Work Here?” “About Half of Them”
Charles M. Schwab? Reed Smoot? Pope John XXIII? Fliegende Blätter? Edgar Wallace? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A visitor to a large business watched as numerous workers moved purposefully along the hallways into offices. The visitor approached the leader of the company and asked: “This is such a busy place! How many people work here?” The …
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There Is No Agony Like Bearing an Untold Story Inside You
Zora Neale Hurston? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Brilliant writers are often impelled to share a tale. Keeping an untold story inside can cause agony. The prominent author Zora Neale Hurston said something like this. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In 1942 Zora Neale Hurston published “Dust Tracks on a …
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