Arthur Conan Doyle? Edgar Allan Poe? Dorothy L. Sayers? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous fictional detective once explained the methodology for solving mysteries. The sleuth should gather facts and systematically eliminate hypotheses that are impossible. When a single hypothesis remains, however improbable, it must be the truth. The description of this approach has …
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Quote Origin: I Have Lived a Thousand Lives. I Have Loved a Thousand Loves . . . Because I Read
George R. R. Martin? Gloria Swanson? C. S. Lewis? A. A. Pape? Vada B. Reese? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A best-selling author once stated: I have lived a thousand lives. I have loved a thousand loves. This extraordinary achievement had been accomplished vicariously via reading. Fantasy and science fiction author George R. R. Martin …
Quote Origin: You Have Not Lived Today Until You Have Done Something for Someone Who Can Never Repay You
John Bunyan? Paul Bunyan? Jacob Morton Braude? Frank Look? Eugene P. Bertin? Frank Ney? Titus? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Altruism has been championed with the following saying: You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you. This statement has been credited to the 17th-century Puritan preacher …
Quote Origin: We Have Each Continued To Believe That the Other Will Do Better Tomorrow
Robert Mitchum? Gloria Pitzer? Lloyd Robson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A movie star was once asked about the impressive longevity of his marriage, and he replied that the two partners displayed mutual forbearance. Each partner believed that the other would do better tomorrow. This statement has been attributed to Golden-Age Hollywood actor Robert Mitchum, …
Quote Origin: Never Underestimate the Power of Stupid People in Large Groups
George Carlin? Elsie Robinson? Eddie Schwartz? Jan M. Carroll? Gordie Spear? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: When foolish people group together the results are often terrible. Here are two versions of a cautionary adage: (1) Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.(2) Never underestimate the power of stupid people in a large …
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Quote Origin: AI Researchers Are Trying To Reach the Moon by Climbing the Tallest Trees
Hubert Dreyfus? Stuart Dreyfus? Gary Marcus? Dave Akin? Ernest Davis? Aesop? Question for Quote Investigator: Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have been remarkable, but detractors contend that current approaches are inadequate and progress will soon reach a plateau. Critics of AI research have used the following vivid analogy: You cannot reach the moon by …
Prediction About AI Systems: The Range of Problems They Can Handle Will Be Coextensive With the Range To Which the Human Mind Has Been Applied
Herbert A. Simon? Allen Newell? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: In the 1950s a pair of prominent researchers made several provocative predictions about artificial intelligence. The researchers believed that a computer program would become the world chess champion within a decade. They also believed that most psychological theories in the future would take the form …
Quote Origin: I Admire and Crave Competence In Any Field From Adultery to Zoology
H. L. Mencken? Alistair Cooke? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent journalist once celebrated the display of competence in any discipline from A to Z by saying something like the following: I admire and crave competence, just simple competence, in any field from adultery to zoology. The statement has been attributed to the famous …
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Quote Origin: Behave Like a Duck, Stay Calm On the Surface But Paddle Like Crazy Underneath
Michael Caine? Raymond Clapper? Stephen Tallents? Bing Crosby? Japanese Saying? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following memorable advice uses a vivid simile: Behave like a duck—keep calm and serene on the surface but paddle like crazy underneath. British actor Michael Caine has received credit for this saying. Would you please explore the provenance of …
Quote Origin: All Art Is Propaganda
Upton Sinclair? W. E. B. Du Bois? George Orwell? George Bernard Shaw? Ann Petry? Morris Edmund Speare? Richard Hunt? Ludwig Lewisohn? Edmund Wilson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Advocates often extoll their visions with strong-willed certainty. Insistent artists are accused of preaching and propagandizing. Yet, this criticism is sometimes provocatively embraced. Here are three assertions: …