Tracing Quotations
Stephen Jay Gould? George Lakoff? Delta Willis? Steven Pinker? Stephen Fry? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent scientist apparently made the following surprising pronouncement: There is no such thing as a fish. I do not recall the precise phrasing. Would you please explore the provenance and interpretation of this statement? Reply from Quote Investigator: In …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Regret To Report That There Is Surely No Such Thing as a Fish”
Mark Twain? Oscar Wilde? Thomas Love Peacock? Algernon Falconer? Richard Porson? Question for Quote Investigator: The complexities of the German language inspired the following comical statement: Life is too short to learn German. This statement has been attributed to U.S. humorist Mark Twain, Irish playwright Oscar Wilde, English satirist Thomas Love Peacock, and English classical …
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W. Somerset Maugham? Popular Influencer? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular modern influencer has recommended outsourcing all the unpleasant or unimportant tasks of life. I was reminded of a saying I heard many years ago: Life is too short to do anything for oneself that one can pay others to do for one. I …
Alan Gregg? William Ralph Inge? Paul R. Ehrlich? Marston Bates? Edward Abbey? Ronald Dellums? Question for Quote Investigator: The size of the human population and the power of human technology have both grown dramatically during the past century. Unfortunately, the biosphere has been damaged by human actions. Someone formulated the following provocative analogy: The world …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The World Has Cancer, and the Cancer Cell Is Man”
Edward Abbey? Paul R. Ehrlich? Anne H. Ehrlich? Susan Buckingham? Arthur J. Cordell? Alan Gregg? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The rapid and uncontrolled proliferation of cells in the human body is a manifestation of cancer. Environmentalists and conservationists have employed a provocative analogy to criticize unconstrained economic development. Here are two versions: (1) Perpetual …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Growth for the Sake of Growth Is the Ideology of the Cancer Cell”
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Mary Allette Ayer? Young People’s Weekly? John Milton? Kin Hubbard? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Here are the first and last sentences of an inspirational passage: Whatever you do, you need courage … Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them. This passage has been credited …
Will Rogers? Jack Kerouac? Joseph Gurney Cannon? G. Gordon Liddy? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Each horse has exactly one posterior, and this fact produces a confounding paradox. Why are there more horses’ asses than horses? This wordplay quip has been attributed to humorist Will Rogers, novelist Jack Kerouac, politician Joseph Cannon, Watergate conspirator G. …
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Thomas Fuller? Saadi Shīrāzī? Moncure Daniel Conway? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Developing knowledge and skills takes time and effort. There is no shortcut for obtaining crucial capabilities. Here is a pertinent adage: Everything is difficult before it becomes easy. This saying has been attributed to the 18th century British physician Thomas Fuller and the …
Continue reading “Adage Origin: All Things Are Difficult, Before They Are Easy”
William S. Burroughs? Allen Ginsberg? Sam Kashner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Prominent authors can be ornery and unforgiving. Apparently, a well-known writer said: Elephants and authors have long, vicious memories. This statement has been attributed to William S. Burroughs, the controversial Beat Generation author of “Naked Lunch”, “The Ticket That Exploded”, and “Junkie”. Would …
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Diana Vreeland? Christopher Hemphill? Valerie Steele? Marion Hume? Question for Quote Investigator: Apparently, a prominent fashion maven asserted that an obsession with good taste was misguided because a person with “terrible taste” could make a “damn good living” selling items. This notion has been attributed to Diana Vreeland who was the editor-in-chief at Vogue in …