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: Thomas Carlyle
Quote Origin: If We Treat People as If They Were What They Ought To Be, We Help Them Become What They Are Capable of Becoming
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Thomas Carlyle? Mary Shelley? Percy Bysshe Shelley? Thomas S. Monson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a family of sayings ascribed to the prominent German literary figure Goethe. Here are two instances in the family: If you treat people as they are, they will become worse. If you treat them …
Quote Origin: Get Your Happiness Out of Your Work, or You’ll Never Know What Happiness Is
Elbert Hubbard? Thomas Carlyle? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Working for a living consumes enormous amounts of time and energy. If you wish to be happy in life then it is essential to try and obtain happiness from your work. Would you please determine who created an adage expressing this idea? Reply from Quote Investigator: …
Quote Origin: Blessed Is He Who Has Found His Work; Let Him Ask No Other Blessedness
Creator: Thomas Carlyle, Scottish philosopher, historian, and satirist Context: The book “Past and Present” by Carlyle contains the following passage which metaphorically contrasts a swamp and a meadow. Emphasis added: Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness. He has a work, a life-purpose; he has found it, and …
Quote Origin: The Eye Sees Only What the Mind Is Prepared To Comprehend
Henri Bergson? Robertson Davies? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Thomas Carlyle? Anais Nin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: One might see a duck when looking at the famous ambiguous image above, or one might see a rabbit. Perceiving one animal partially blocks the recognition of the other animal, and mental effort is required to switch one’s …
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Quote Origin: In Every Object There Is Inexhaustible Meaning. The Eye Sees In It What the Eye Brings Means of Seeing
Thomas Carlyle? Patrick Geddes? Robertson Davies? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: When you interpret a visual scene your grasp is limited by your knowledge and preconceptions. The eye can only see what it is prepared to see. The Scottish philosopher and historian Thomas Carlyle said something similar to this. Would you please help me to …
Quote Origin: The More I Know About People, the Better I Like Dogs
Mark Twain? Madame de Sévigné? Madame Roland? Alphonse de Lamartine? Alphonse Toussenel? Louise de la Rameé? Alfred D’Orsay? Thomas Carlyle? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular expression combines disappointment with humanity together with praise for canines. Here are four versions: These words have been attributed to Mark Twain and Alphonse Toussenel. Would you please …
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Quote Origin: An Army Marches On Its Stomach
Napoleon Bonaparte? Frederick the Great? Thomas Carlyle? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Proper logistics are crucial to any successful military campaign. The importance of food supply is highlighted in a well-known aphorism. Here are four versions: This saying has been ascribed to the famous leaders Napoleon Bonaparte and Frederick the Great. Would you please explore …
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Quote Origin: Clear Your Mind of Cant / Clear Your Mind of Can’t
Samuel Johnson? James Boswell? Thomas Carlyle? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Two statements that sound the same but have very different meanings have been attributed to the esteemed dictionary maker and man of letters Samuel Johnson: 1) Clear your mind of cant. 2) Clear your mind of can’t. In the first statement the noun “cant” …
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Quote Origin: Nearly All Men Can Stand Adversity, But If You Want To Test a Man’s Character, Give Him Power
Abraham Lincoln? Thomas Carlyle? Robert G. Ingersoll? Horatio Alger Jr.? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I saw the following quotation on the website of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum: Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. Lincoln was credited, but I have …