Helen Keller? Socrates? Plato? Seneca the Younger? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A person has two genetic parents, four grandparents, and eight great-grandparents. The number of ancestors in a generation roughly doubles when going backwards in time, and this exponential growth implies that each individual has an enormous number of ancestors. This line of reasoning …
Category Archives: Plato
There Are No Atheists in Foxholes
Plato? Michel de Montaigne? Hannah More? C. V. Hibbard? Warren J. Clear? Ruth Straub? William Thomas Cummings? Ernie Pyle? Anonymous Chaplain? Anonymous Soldier? Question for Quote Investigator: When exposed to extreme peril many people reflect on the spiritual or supernatural dimension of existence. The following sayings have been particularly popular during times of war. Here …
The Man Who Dares To Tell the Truth Is Called at Once a Lunatic and Fool
Plato? George Francis Train? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Truth tellers often face an unhappy fate in cautionary fables. They are derided, misunderstood, persecuted, or ignored. The famous ancient philosopher Plato supposedly said: The young and old are taught falsehoods. The person who dares to tell the truth is called at once a lunatic and fool. …
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You Can Discover More About a Person in an Hour of Play than in a Year of Conversation
Plato? Richard Lingard? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Plato’s philosophical thoughts were explicated using the format of a dialogue in which the participants expressed clashing ideas. The following quotation attributed to Plato seems to be a comical twist on his true attitude: You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in …
They Riot in the Streets Inflamed with Wild Notions; Their Morals Are Decaying
Plato? Theodore Hesburgh? Creed C. Black? William J. Brennan Jr.? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following questioning and unhappy words have been attributed to the ancient Greek sage Plato: What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with …
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A Child Should Play Amongst Lovely Things
Plato? Aubert J. Clark? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following statement is attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher and sage Plato: The most effective kind of education is that a child should play among lovely things. Although this quotation is popular with many educators I have never seen a proper citation. Would you please explore …
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The Male Libido is Like Being Chained to a Madman
Socrates? Sophocles? Plato? Cephalus? Russell Brand? David Niven? Kingsley Amis? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There is an ancient and provocative simile that helps to explicate the irrational actions of infatuated males: The male libido is like being chained to a madman. To have a penis is to be chained to a madman. These words have …
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The Mind Is Not a Vessel That Needs Filling, But Wood That Needs Igniting
William Butler Yeats? Plutarch? Socrates? Plato? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a superb quotation about education that I have encountered many times. Here is a collection of examples with attributions that I have been accumulating. None of the examples came with citations: Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a …
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Quote Origin: Be Kind; Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle
Plato? Philo of Alexandria? Ian MacLaren? John Watson? This blog post is based on a question that was posed at the wonderful blog used by the quotation expert Fred Shapiro who is the editor of one of the best reference works in this area: The Yale Book of Quotations. Fred Shapiro’s posts appear on the …
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Misbehaving Children in Ancient Times
Dear Quote Investigator: There is a great quote by Plato or Socrates about the misbehavior of children in antiquity that I read in the New York Times. The quote shows that the problems between generations are not just a recent occurrence. Instead, the conflicts between parents and offspring are timeless [NY8]: The children now love …