Albert Einstein? Ernest Rutherford? Cyril Hinshelwood? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: It should be possible to explain a valid scientific theory to anybody, e.g., a nine-year-old, a grandmother, or the man in the street. This dubious assertion is challenged by the fact that few humans are able to comprehend the notion of a four-dimensional space-time …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: Whenever You See Me Somewhere Succeeding In One Area of My Life, That Almost Certainly Means I Am Failing In Another
Shonda Rhimes? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The acclaimed long-running television series Grey’s Anatomy was created by writer and producer Shonda Rhimes. Her company Shondaland has successfully produced many lauded shows. Predictably, Rhimes leads a very busy life. Unpredictably, she was willing to speak with complete candor to graduating Ivy League students. What sobering message …
Quote Origin: The Dubious Privilege of a Freelance Writer Is He’s Given the Freedom To Starve Anywhere
S. J. Perelman? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A major shift in the U.S. labor market has been occurring in recent years. The emerging system has been called the gig economy or the freelance economy. Self-employed temporary workers perform tasks for agreed-upon payments. Freelancing has been common in some fields for many decades. The prominent …
Quote Origin: His Grace Returned From the Wars This Morning and Pleasured Me Twice in His Top-Boots
Sarah Churchill? James Agate? A. L. Rowse? Theodor Reik? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A legend asserts that Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough wrote a passionate remark in her diary. Here are three versions: Are any of these statements genuine? What evidence is available? Reply from Quote Investigator: Several researchers have attempted to explore this …
Quote Origin: This Is Only a Foretaste of What Is To Come, and Only the Shadow of What Is Going To Be
Alan Turing? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Code breaker Alan Turing was a major figure in computer science and a pioneer in artificial intelligence. In 2021 Turing’s portrait will appear on newly issued £50 notes from the Bank of England. Would you please explore the quotation that reportedly will be printed on the notes? Reply …
Quote Origin: One Starts To Get Young at the Age of 60 and Then It’s Too Late
Pablo Picasso? Jean Cocteau? Derek Prouse? Question for Quote Investigator: The proficiency, creativity, and potency of an artist can grow for decades. Yet, painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso apparently said the following about his change in mentality as he became older. Here are two versions: Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply …
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Quote Origin: If We Have Our Own ‘Why’ of Life, We Shall Get Along With Almost Any ‘How’
Friedrich Nietzsche? Viktor E. Frankl? Thomas Common? Anthony M. Ludovici? Walter Kaufmann? R. J. Hollingdale? Ilse Lasch? Question for Quote Investigator: Life can be aggravating and even agonizing. Yet, a steady internal purpose helps to make difficulties endurable together with the thought that happiness and pleasure will someday return. Here is an apposite adage: One …
Quote Origin: I Really Don’t Mind What People Do, So Long As They Don’t Do It In the Street and Frighten the Horses
Mrs. Patrick Campbell? Beatrice Stella Tanner? Helen Maud Tree? Oscar Wilde? Linkum Fidelius? Washington Irving? Alice Roosevelt Longworth? Eric Erskine Wood? Mrs. Claude Beddington? Frances Ethel Beddington? John Moore? King Edward VII? Ronald Reagan? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Enforcing societal norms and taboos is an important activity for some people. Others hesitate to proscribe …
Quote Origin: The Worst Sin Towards Our Fellow Creatures Is Not To Hate Them, But To Be Indifferent To Them
George Bernard Shaw? Anthony Anderson? Wilhelm Stekel? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The playwright George Bernard Shaw apparently contended that indifference to another person was a greater transgression than hatred. He called this indifference a sin. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: George Bernard Shaw’s play “The Devil’s …
Quote Origin: We Should Utilize Natural Forces and Thus Get All of Our Power. Sunshine Is a Form of Energy, and the Winds and the Tides Are Manifestations of Energy
Thomas Edison? Elbert Hubbard? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous inventor Thomas Edison supposedly foresaw the potential of solar energy more than one hundred years ago. He wanted to replace the burning of fuels with the collection of natural energy from the sun, wind, and tides. Did Edison really express this viewpoint? Would you …