Tracing Quotations
Jean Cocteau? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The prominent French artist Jean Cocteau crafted the most insightful remark about addiction that I have ever read. Some drugs permanently shift one’s perception of pleasure and purpose in the world. Would you please help me to find Cocteau’s comment about the difficulty of taking the world seriously …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: It Is Difficult, After Knowing Opium, To Take Earth Seriously”
Mignon McLaughlin? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Imagine reading a constructive, entertaining, and edifying discussion thread on social media. If you travel through the looking glass you can envision six impossible things before breakfast. Now, imagine reading an unconstructive, mind-numbing, and obscurantist exchange. This latter possibility reminds me of a rueful remark from the famous …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: One Starts To Get Young at the Age of 60 and Then It’s Too Late”
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 …
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 …