Tracing Quotations
Meister Eckhart? C. De B. Evans? Victor Gollancz? George William Target? Sharon Blackie? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Some philosophers believe that mentality is ubiquitous in the universe. Thus, it is possible to assign volition to every entity, and even inanimate objects have a purpose. For example, an apple that falls from a tree might …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Even Stones Have a Love, A Love That Seeks the Ground”
Anatole France? François Rabelais? Michel de Montaigne? Lewis Piaget Shanks? Will Durant? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The French Nobel laureate Anatole France was skeptical of martyrdom. Here are three versions of a statement attributed to him: Would you please help me to find the original statement in French? Reply from Quote Investigator: In April …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: 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? Question for 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 …
Martin Luther King? Elizabeth Tipton Derieux? Alton Hawkins? United Presbyterian Church? Apocryphal? Question for 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 …
Buckaroo Banzai? Peter Weller? Earl Mac Rauch? Thomas à Kempis? W. H. Hutchings? Jim Russell? Jacqueline? C. Gordon Furbish? Jon Kabat-Zinn? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following saying is a profound guideline for mindfulness meditation; alternatively, it is a fun absurdist joke. Here are three versions: The 1984 movie “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: No Matter Where You Go, There You Are”
George Bernard Shaw? Oscar Wilde? Clarence Rook? Alexander Woollcott? Hesketh Pearson? Apocryphal? Question for 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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: 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? Question for 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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: If You Are Not at the Table Then You’re Probably on the Menu”
Herbert A. Simon? Hubert L. Dreyfus? Raymond Kurzweil? Apocryphal? Question for 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 …
Oscar Wilde? Titus Lucretius Carus? Apocryphal? Question for 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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: One Man’s Poetry Is Another Man’s Poison”
Abraham Lincoln? Francis Bicknell Carpenter? Carl Sandburg? Anonymous? Question for 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 …