Abraham Lincoln? Alphonse Karr? B. Fay Mills? Roe Fulkerson? J. Kenfield Morley? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular quotation about achieving the proper perspective on life is often attributed to Abraham Lincoln: We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses. Optimistic and pessimistic viewpoints are ingeniously contrasted in …
Category Archives: Abraham Lincoln
I Will Send a Barrel of This Wonderful Whiskey to Every General in the Army
Abraham Lincoln? Charles G. Halpine? Anonymous? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a brilliant anecdote about President Lincoln defending General Grant from an accusation of drunkenness. I have read conflicting statements about whether this anecdote is accurate. Perhaps you could examine this tale for the next Presidents’ Day holiday? Quote Investigator: The story of Abraham …
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Folks Are Usually About as Happy as They Make Up Their Minds To Be
Abraham Lincoln? Frank Crane? Orison Swett Marden? Dale Carnegie? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: On twitter recently there was an exchange about a deeply insightful quotation credited to Abraham Lincoln: Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. I love this saying, and it helps me to reflect constructively on …
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It’s Not the Years in Your Life That Count. It’s the Life in Your Years
Abraham Lincoln? Adlai Stevenson? Edward J. Stieglitz? Edward Barrett Warman? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There are posters, shirts, mugs, and other commercial products displaying the following inspirational quote: And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln is credited with this aphorism, but …
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Your Liberty To Swing Your Fist Ends Just Where My Nose Begins
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.? John B. Finch? John Stuart Mill? Abraham Lincoln? Zechariah Chafee, Jr.? Dear Quote Investigator: I am writing a book on the theme of freedom and would like to include a classic quotation about the pragmatic limitations on liberty. My research has identified several versions of this popular saying: The right to …
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Defeat from the Jaws of Victory
Abraham Lincoln? Ambrose Burnside? Charles Fair? Dear Quote Investigator: One of the worst military strategists in history was a Civil War general named Ambrose Burnside (sideburns are named after his whiskers). After a military fiasco called the Battle of the Crater, Abraham Lincoln relieved him of command and supposedly said: Only Burnside could have managed …
Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool than to Speak and Remove All Doubt
Abraham Lincoln? Mark Twain? Biblical Proverb? Maurice Switzer? Arthur Burns? John Maynard Keynes? Confucius? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Here are two versions of an entertaining saying that is usually credited to Abraham Lincoln or Mark Twain: Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt. It’s better …
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