Thomas Carlyle? Benjamin Franklin? Samuel Taylor Coleridge? Johann P. F. Richter? Minna Antrim? Heinrich Heine? William Ralph Inge? Question for Quote Investigator: The most memorable and painful lessons are usually learned via direct experience, but the cost can be very high. A family of adages depict this point of view. Here are two instances: This …
Category Archives: Heinrich Heine
Quote Origin: Music Begins Where Language Ends
Heinrich Heine? Claude Debussy? Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky? Richard Wagner? Leonora Schmitz? Henry R. Cleveland? Jean Sibelius? John S. Dwight? Ludwig van Beethoven? Anton Rubinstein? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The expressiveness of words is paltry in the domain of deeply felt emotions and sensations. Yet, music can resonate with these profound feelings. Here are two …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Music Begins Where Language Ends”
Quote Origin: Where Words Leave Off, Music Begins
Heinrich Heine? Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular adage comments on the comparative expressiveness of words versus music. Here are two versions: Many people have been credited with this saying including the famous German poet and critic Heinrich Heine. Would you please explore the attribution to Heine? Reply from Quote Investigator: …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Where Words Leave Off, Music Begins”
Only One Man Ever Understood Me, and He Did Not Understand Me Either
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel? Heinrich Heine? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel had a major influence on later schools of thought including Marxism and existentialism. Yet, critics have complained of his unintelligibility. One colorful anecdote claims that Hegel made the following pronouncement on his deathbed: Only one man ever understood …
Continue reading “Only One Man Ever Understood Me, and He Did Not Understand Me Either”
Quote Origin: When the End of the World Comes, I Want To Be in Cincinnati. It Is Always Ten Years Behind the Times
Mark Twain? Heinrich Heine? Otto von Bismarck? George Bernard Shaw? James Boswell? Will Rogers? Question for Quote Investigator: As a one-time resident of Cincinnati I knew that Mark Twain once worked in the city, and I always enjoyed the comment he reportedly made about it: When the end of the world comes, I want to …