Tracing Quotations
Samuel Goldwyn? Bill Keisler? Bobby Wayne? Vladimir Semyonov? Sam Levenson? Laurence J. Peter? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following astringent remark perfectly embodies the attitude of a high-handed boss who ignores feedback: When I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you. This line has been ascribed to movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn. The statement …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: When I Want Your Opinion, I’ll Give It To You”
Samuel Goldwyn? Mrs. Jones? Cy Rigler? Margaret Grant? George Bernard Shaw? Harry Rapf? William Brown Meloney? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Samuel Goldwyn was a powerful Hollywood movie mogul who was famous for humorous gaffes. His malapropisms and paradoxes became known as Goldwynisms. For example, while discussing the accuracy of his predictions Goldwyn reportedly said: …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I May Not Always Be Right, But I Am Never Wrong”
Christopher Hitchens? Brian Crane? Susie Blair? Brian K. Lebowitz? P. G. Wodehouse? Pickles? Muffin the Cat? Roscoe the Dog? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The attitudes of dogs and cats differ substantially according to a popular humorous analysis. A dog which receives food, water, care, and affection concludes: “My benefactor is a god”. A cat …
Continue reading “Quip Origin: Dogs Believe You Are a God. Cats Believe They Are Gods”
Samuel Butler? Eliza Mary Ann Savage? Ogden Nash? Mandell Creighton? Charles Bowen? George Ferguson Bowen? William Burns? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A well-known bible verse, Matthew 5:45, discusses God and the weather: Your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good and the evil, and raineth upon the …
Continue reading “Joke Origin: The Unjust Steals the Just’s Umbrella”
Tom Sims? Edgar Allan Poe? Mary Margaret McBride? Sidney K. Bennett? Clayton Rawson? George Stracke? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A commonplace warning states that you should not believe everything you hear. But the following extreme version of this caution embodies even greater skepticism: Don’t believe everything you think. I once saw this statement on …
Continue reading “Proverb Origin: Don’t Believe Everything You Think”
Friedrich Nietzsche? Claudia Crawford? Walter Kaufmann? Karl Jaspers? Roland Barthes? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: In Greek mythology, the Cretan princess Ariadne helped the hero Theseus slay the Minotaur and escape from the labyrinth. Ariadne gave Daedalus a ball of thread so he could successfully navigate through the deadly maze. While contemplating this myth, the …
Robert Blatchford? Arthur Bugs Baer? Roy K. Moulton? Robert de Saint-Jean? Ford Madox Ford? Georges Clemenceau? P. L. Garvin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The nature of modern warfare is changing rapidly with new weaponry based on drones and machine learning. Yet, military planners are immersed in studying past battles. Here are two versions of …
Continue reading “Proverb Origin: Generals Always Prepare to Fight the Last War”
Mel Brooks? Carl Reiner? Betty Brainerd? Joey Bishop? Kenneth Tynan? S. Sylvan Simon? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: What makes something funny? Why do so many people find pratfalls humorous? The difference between comedy and tragedy has been described in a comically cynical remark with a tincture of cruelty: Tragedy is when I get a …
Charles de Gaulle? Leonardo Da Vinci? André Maurois? Gerard Hopkins? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A pithy speech is more powerful than a long-winded oration. Concision amplifies potency. Here are two versions of this idea: Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.Nothing enhances authority more than silence. This statement has been credited to the French …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Nothing Enhances Authority So Much as Silence”
Vernor Vinge? Hans Moravec? Irving John Good? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The creation of entities with superhuman intelligence would mark a new epoch in human history. Systems which outperform humans in tasks such determining 3D protein structures or playing the boardgame Go already exist. But these AI systems display narrow expertise. The advent of …