Uncategorized – Quote Investigator®

Quote Origin: Old Age and Treachery Will Always Defeat Youth and Skill

Waylon Jennings? P.J. O’Rourke? David Mamet? Johnny Rutherford? Jerry Schofield? Fausto Coppi? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Physical abilities decline with age, but experience accumulates. The following adage is popular with feisty seniors: Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill. This saying has been attributed to singer-songwriter Waylon Jennings, playwright David Mamet, political …

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Quote Origin: I Don’t Get Heart Attacks, I Give Them

Rex Harrison? Ian Sinclair? Harry Cohn? Kenneth R. Smith? Marie Michael? Terry Goodkind? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A powerful person once delivered a line that vividly combined anger and arrogance. After the individual harshly scolded an underling, an assistant said that the incessant episodes of rage might lead to a heart attack. The reply …

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Quote Origin: Everyone Told Us MTV Wouldn’t Last. As It Turns Out, They Were Right

Martha Quinn? Tom Freston? Judy McGrath? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: When MTV (music television) launched in 1981 numerous commentators were skeptical of its viability. Yet, the channel has persevered for decades. One of the early VJs (video jockeys) recalled the initial uncertainty, but the VJ added a twist with the following remark: Everybody said …

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Dialogue Origin: “Will Computers Ever Be as Smart as Humans?” “Yes, But Only Briefly”

Vernor Vinge? Samuel Butler? Luke Muehlhauser? Anna Salamon? Anders Sandberg? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Current commentators are preoccupied with guessing when artificial intelligence (AI) systems will achieve human-level intelligence, but a thoughtful science fiction author crafted the following edifying dialogue: “Will computers ever be as smart as humans?”“Yes, but only briefly.” The author suggested …

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Quote Origin: If You Would Know What the Lord God Thinks of Money, You Have Only to Look at Those to Whom He Gives It

Dorothy Parker? Martin Luther? Jonathan Swift? Alexander Pope? Anne Marsh-Caldwell? Matthew Poole? Richard Steele? Thomas Guthrie? Austin O’Malley? Maurice Baring? Question for Quote Investigator: A scathing comment about wealthy people has been attributed to the U.S. writer Dorothy Parker: If you would know what the Lord God thinks of money, you have only to look …

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Quote Origin: The Only Difference Between Me and a Madman Is That I Am Not a Madman

Salvador Dali? Leonard Lyons? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Two very different statements about madness have been attributed to the famous Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali: (1) The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not a madman. (2) There is only one difference between a madman and me. The madman …

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Quote Origin: It Is Better To Be Vaguely Right Than Exactly Wrong

John Maynard Keynes? Francis Bacon? Ian Dishart Suttie? Carveth Read? Curt John Ducasse? Gerald F. Shove? H. Wildon Carr? Question for Quote Investigator: Two seemingly contradictory adages have become popular: (1) It is better to be vaguely right than exactly wrong(2) It is better to be definitely wrong than vaguely right The justification for the …

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Quote Origin: Money Cannot Buy Health, But I’d Settle for a Diamond-Studded Wheelchair

Dorothy Parker? Evan Esar? Barry Day? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The notable wit Dorothy Parker suffered from ill-health in her later years. She has been credited with the following remark: Money cannot buy health. but I’d settle for a diamond-studded wheelchair. I have not been able to find any solid citations, and I have …

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Dialogue Origin: “Young People, Nowadays, Imagine That Money Is Everything” “Yes, and When They Grow Older They Know It”

Oscar Wilde? Henry Wotton? Sibyl Vane? Louis T. Stanley? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous wit Oscar Wilde has received credit for the following cynical dialogue, but I am not sure where it appeared: “Young people, nowadays, imagine that money is everything.”“Yes, and when they grow older they know it.” Oscar Wilde has also …

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Quote Origin: Language Is the Mother, Not the Handmaiden of Thought

W. H. Auden? Karl Kraus? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Philosophers and scientists are still trying to elucidate the interconnectedness of thought and language. The advent of large language models in artificial intelligence has highlighted this conundrum. One literary figure emphasized the primacy of language with the following adage: Language is the mother, not the …

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