Tracing Quotations
Albert Einstein? Louis Zukofsky? Roger Sessions? William of Ockham? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The credibility of a quotation is increased substantially if it can be ascribed to a widely-recognized genius such as Albert Einstein. Hence a large number of spurious quotes are attributed to him. I would like to know if the following is a …
Continue reading “Everything Should Be Made as Simple as Possible, But Not Simpler”
Albert Einstein? Associated Press? Time magazine? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: You recently discussed one quotation by Albert Einstein about taxes, but my question is about another remark attributed to the genius. The Canadian newspaper “Globe and Mail” published the following earlier this year [GME]: Albert Einstein said of his tax return, “This is too difficult …
Continue reading “Taxes: This is a Question Too Difficult for a Mathematician”
Albert Einstein? Leo Mattersdorf? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I have been struggling trying to figure out how much I owe to the Internal Revenue Service this year. The quote I would like you to explore does not sound very extraordinary. What makes it funny and outrageous is the identity of the person who supposedly …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Hardest Thing in the World to Understand Is Income Taxes”
Omar Bradley? Albert Einstein? Young Army Lieutenant? Walter Winchell? Joe Laitin? James W. Fulbright? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a great quotation about the type of weapons that will be used in World War IV. The words are both funny and chilling, and every time I have seen the saying it has been attributed to …
Albert Einstein? William Bruce Cameron? Hilliard Jason? Stephen Ross? Lord Platt? George Pickering? Dear Quote Investigator: Recently I saw a comic strip titled “Baby Einstein” that contained a few quotations that are often attributed to Albert Einstein. I think the following saying is very insightful: Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything …
Continue reading “Not Everything That Counts Can Be Counted”
Albert Einstein? Frederick S. Perls? Anonymous? A Great Astronomer? Dear Quote Investigator: I saw a comic strip titled “Baby Einstein” that contained three quotations that are usually attributed to Einstein. Are these quotes accurate? I am particularly interested in the second quotation: Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure …
Continue reading “Two Things Are Infinite: the Universe and Human Stupidity”