Tracing Quotations
Carl Sagan? Martin Rees? William Wright? William Housman? W. J. Sollas? Dugald Bell? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The existence or non-existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life is a highly contentious subject. Some thinkers who are open to the possibility of interstellar aliens also believe that the current evidence is inadequate; hence, they advocate using radio …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Absence of Evidence Is Not Evidence of Absence”
Rick Warren? Will Bowen? Yehuda Berg? Charles Eads? Oprah Winfrey? Helen Boyd? Doug Manning? Emotions Anonymous? Barbara Johnson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: People who have been hurt or damaged in life sometimes respond by striking out and hurting the people who are around them. A concise adage expresses this viewpoint: Hurt people hurt people. …
James B. Conant? Atomic Scientist? Anonymous Cartoonist? Leslie Groves? G. B. Carter? P. C. Keith? Question for Quote Investigator: Making headway in life requires taking significant risks. This thought has been presented with a homespun aquatic analogy. Here are three versions: This saying has been credited to James B. Conant, a chemist who was the …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Behold the Turtle. He Makes Progress Only When His Neck Is Out”
Fyodor Dostoevsky? Andrew H. MacAndrew? Constance Garnett? Max Tegmark? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky contended that simply staying alive would not make a person content. A person must find something to live for. Strictly speaking, this viewpoint was articulated by a character in a story by Dostoevsky and not …
Peggy Guggenheim? Ilya Ilyich Oblomov? Samuel Beckett? Question for Quote Investigator: Peggy Guggenheim was one of the most powerful and influential collectors of modern art in the twentieth century. Yet, her initial tastes in art were classical. She preferred the works of old masters. Her viewpoint changed dramatically during a tempestuous love affair with an …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: One Had To Accept the Art of Our Day As It Was a Living Thing”
Albert Einstein? Napoleon Bonaparte? Baron Rothschild? Paul Samuelson? John D. Rockefeller? Advertising Copy Writer? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Salespeople and advertisers invoke the name of the scientific genius Albert Einstein when they wish to impress gullible individuals. The following grandiose statement has been attributed to Einstein: Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Eighth Wonder of the World Is Compound Interest”
Carol Weston? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Displaying false modesty is sometimes intended to elicit praise. This type of behavior is called “fishing for compliments”. Yet, according to a well-known comical scenario an unlucky individual may reel in a fishing line and discover a useless boot attached to the hook. Would you please explore the …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Beware of Fishing for Compliments—You Might Come Up with a Boot”
Albert Einstein? Steven Wright? Earl Wilson? Robert Orben? Gary Apple? Bo McLeod? Brian Williams? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The speed of light is a crucial value in the theory of relativity. Perhaps that is why the following joke has been credited to Albert Einstein: Light travels faster than sound. That’s why some people appear …
Daniel Boone? Baptist Preacher? Methodist Preacher? Edward Stanly? Lewis Craig? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The U.S. state of Kentucky is well-known for its beautiful scenery. According to legend when the frontiersman Daniel Boone first encountered the land he compared it to paradise. Here are three versions of the saying: Would you please explore the …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: O My Dear Honeys, Heaven Is a Kentucky of a Place”
Mark Twain? Josh Billings? Henry Wheeler Shaw? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Writing well requires the selection of properly expressive words. There is an enormous difference between selecting ‘lightning bug’ versus ‘lightning’. Apparently, Mark Twain said something similar to this, but I was surprised to discover that Twain credited his friend Josh Billings with crafting …