Quote Origin: To Give Real Service You Must Add Something — Sincerity and Integrity

Douglas Adams? Donald A. Adams? Anonymous? Question for 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 …

Quote Origin: 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? Question for 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 …

Quote Origin: Where Words Leave Off, Music Begins

Heinrich Heine? Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular adage comments on the comparative expressiveness of words versus music. Here are two versions: Many people have been credited with this saying including the famous German poet and critic Heinrich Heine. Would you please explore the attribution to Heine? Reply from Quote Investigator: …

Quote Origin: Music Begins Where Speech Fails

Claude Debussy? Maurice Emmanuel? Léon Vallas? Apocryphal? Question for 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: Many people have been credited with this adage including the famous French composer Claude Debussy. Would you please …

Quote Origin: Where the Speech of Man Stops Short There Music’s Reign Begins

Richard Wagner? Henry Russell Cleveland? Apocryphal? Question for 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: Many people have been credited with this adage including the famous German composer Richard Wagner. Would you please explore the …

Quote Origin: A Politician Ought To Be Born a Foundling and Remain a Bachelor

Lady Bird Johnson? Barbara Rowes? Apocryphal? Question for 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 …

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 …

Quote Origin: Our Liberty Is Not the Right To Do As We Please, But the Opportunity To Please To Do What Is Right

Peter Marshall? Apocryphal? Question for 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 …

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 …

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 …