Tracing Quotations
Winston Churchill? Hugh Hampton Young? Bennett Cerf? John Barrymore? Jacob Potofsky? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: According to a bawdy anecdote, British statesman Winston Churchill once attended a ceremony during which a sculpture of his likeness was unveiled. A beautiful woman approached him, and their provocative exchange included a pun on the word “bustâ€. Would you …
Continue reading “I Traveled Fifty Miles To See Your Bust Unveiled. . . .”
Isaac Asimov? Alan Alda? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The assumptions we make about the world transform the way we perceive it; hence, we should periodically challenge our own assumptions. A quotation that makes this point and uses windows metaphorically was crafted by either science fiction writer Isaac Asimov or actor Alan Alda. Would you please …
Arthur Eddington? J. B. S. Haldane? Werner Heisenberg? Arthur C. Clarke? Stanley Kubrick? J. B. Priestly Question for Quote Investigator: The physics of quantum mechanics, relativity theory, and string theory are mind-bending. Scientists have made remarkable strides in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries; yet, some believe that the progress will stop before the completion of …
Henry Ford? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The business titan Henry Ford apparently said something like: The industrialist should endeavor to make the best quality goods and pay the highest wages possible. Would you please help me to find the precise phrasing and an accurate citation? Quote Investigator: In 1933 Henry Ford was asked about the …
Theodore Roosevelt? Oscar Wilde? William Allen Harper? Ayn Rand? Casey Kasem? Question for Quote Investigator: High aspirations should be combined with a practical spirit to achieve greatness. This notion can be expressed with the following adage: Keep your eyes on the stars, but your feet on the ground. This statement has been attributed to U.S. …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Keep Your Eyes On the Stars, But Your Feet On the Ground”
Ralph Waldo Emerson? James Elliot Cabot? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Each day should be greeted with our optimism and aspirations. We should forgive ourselves for yesterday’s missteps. The transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson apparently made this point in a passage that begins with one of the following two phrases: Finish every day and be done …
James R. Quirk? Douglas Fairbanks? Walter Winchell? Louella Parsons? Barbara Stanwyck? Jack Osterman? Al Jolson? Walter Huston? Will Rogers? Hedda Hopper? Marie Dressler? Arthur Ashe? Laurence Olivier? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The popularity and power of an entertainer, top athlete, or financial whiz can ascend vertiginously, but it can also decline precipitously. A harshly pragmatic family …
Continue reading “You’re Only As Good As Your Last Performance”
Bertrand Russell? George Orwell? Arthur Koestler? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Humanity faces many existential dangers: hydrogen bombs, bioweapons, asteroid impacts, nanoplagues, and artificial intelligence. Yet, most of these dangers were created by humankind, and all can be ameliorated by wise decisions. The British philosopher Bertrand Russell once said something like: The question is how to …
Continue reading “The Difficulty Is To Persuade the Human Race To Acquiesce in Its Own Survival”
The Royal Toast Master? Supporters of U.S. President George Washington? William Makepeace Thackeray? Francis Bacon? Randall Munroe? An Anonymous Wit? Dear Quote investigator: A brilliant toast uses antimetabole and a pun. Here are two versions: Champagne to our real friends, and real pain to our sham friends. Pain to our sham friends, and Champagne to …
Continue reading “Champagne To Our Real Friends, and Real Pain To Our Sham Friends”
Maya Angelou? Odetta Holmes? Velma Gibson Watts? Apocryphal? Dear Quote investigator: The prominent memoirist and poet Maya Angelou overcame great obstacles in her life, and she encouraged others to maintain a positive energetic perspective. She has been credited with this saying: Don’t bring negative to my door. Would you please help me to find a …