Tracing Quotations
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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Language Is the Mother, Not the Handmaiden of Thought”
Benjamin Franklin? John Ruskin? Thomas B. Lehon? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A family of sayings warns about the dangers of selecting products based on price alone. Here are three instances: (1) The sweetness of low price never equals the bitterness of poor quality (2) The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness …
Georg Cantor? Galileo Galilei? Rudy Rucker? David Foster Wallace? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The careless use of infinity in mathematical and scientific reasoning produces confusion and contradictions. Hence, mathematicians in the 1800s often placed tight restrictions on the use of infinity within mathematical proofs. The theory of transfinite numbers was pioneered by mathematician Georg …
Robert Graves? Samuel R. Delany? Marilyn Hacker? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following witty remark is popular in poetry circles although its accuracy is debated: All true poetry is about love, death, or the changing of the seasons. This statement has been attributed to the English poet and historical novelist Robert Graves; however, I …
Clement Greenberg? Robert M. Coates? Jane Holtz Kay? Pablo Picasso? Gertrude Stein? Tom Wolfe? Question for Quote Investigator: Modern art evokes divergent reactions. One unhappy critic described three paintings by Jackson Pollock as “mere unorganized explosions of random energy, and therefore meaningless”. However, an influential critic who championed Pollock stated: All profoundly original art looks …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: All Profoundly Original Art Looks Ugly at First”
Pablo Picasso? Gertrude Stein? Alice B. Toklas? Clement Greenberg? Victor Papanek? Edmund Wilson? Question for Quote Investigator: Creating innovative artworks is difficult, and pioneering artists face strong opposition. New music is deemed discordant and grating. New architecture is labeled misshapen and impractical. New paintings are considered ugly and maladroit. Apparently, a prominent painter once said: …
Ernest Hemingway? Arnold Samuelson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The life of a famous writer is exhaustively scrutinized by academics who attempt to delineate the young scribe’s growth and maturation. Yet, the typical writer does not wish to be placed under a microscope. Apparently, a prominent author once said: It’s none of their business that …
Ray Hyman? James Alcock? Jeane Dixon? Murray Rothbard? William Spiller? J. Bricout? R. S. Bailey? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Remarkable stories of supernatural phenomena are sometimes inaccurate, exaggerated, or fraudulent. The following pertinent saying circulates within the skeptics community: Do not try to explain something until you are sure there is something to be …
Catherine Deneuve? Kathleen Turner? Francoise de la Renta? Carolina Herrera? Ida Jean Kain? Erma Bombeck? Elizabeth Taylor? Meryl Streep? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: It is common for an individual to gain weight while growing older. Yet, dieting to maintain a slim body can inadvertently produce a face that looks angular or gaunt. Here are …
Herbert A. Simon? Eric Schmidt? Andrej Karpathy? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The capabilities of artificial intelligence systems continue to grow in 2025. Complex computer programs can now be generated from prompts uttered in English, Chinese, and other natural languages. Here are two predictions separated by sixty-five years: (1) It is far more likely that …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Programming Occupation Will Become Extinct”