Paul Krugman? Herman Kahn? Steven D. Levitt? Stephen J. Dubner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Predicting the technological future is enormously difficult. Will society ever have flying cars, home robots, or cities on Mars? The opinions of enthusiasts, skeptics, and experts are highly variable. The record of most prognosticators has been poor. Apparently, during the …
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Quote Origin: The Worst Tempered People I’ve Ever Met Were People Who Knew They Were Wrong
David Letterman? Wilson Mizner? Edward Dean Sullivan? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: People who are angry and irritable often conceal a secret. They know they are mistaken about something vital. Here is a germane saying: The worst tempered people I have ever met were people who knew they were wrong. This saying has been attributed …
Quote Origin: One More Drink, and I’m Under the Host
Dorothy Parker? Bennett Cerf? Richard Martin Stern? Playboy’s Party Jokes? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous wit Dorothy Parker had trouble controlling her use of alcohol. According to legend she was asked about her experiences at a party, and she replied: One more drink and I’d have been under the host! Parker’s line was …
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Quote Origin: Fame Is Proof That The People Are Gullible
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Elbert Hubbard? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: New forms of celebrity have been created in recent years. TikTok and YouTube have produced influencers. Yet, popularity has become remarkably transient. I am reminded of the following harsh comment: (1) Fame is proof that the people are gullible.(2) Fame is proof that people are …
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Quote Origin: People Have Become the Tools of Their Tools
Henry David Thoreau? Winston Churchill? Marshall McLuhan? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Automation has been occurring for centuries, but the modern age has taken the trend to new extremes. The culture of humanity has shifted dramatically because of the tools created by technology. Here are two versions of a pertinent adage: (1) People have become …
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Quote Origin: “I Accept the Universe” “Gad! She’d Better!”
Margaret Fuller? Thomas Carlyle? Henry James Sr.? William James? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Horace Greely? Julia Ward Howe? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous nineteenth-century thinker once delivered a grand affirmation of the universe: “I accept the universe.” Another well-known intellectual heard about this pronouncement and attempted to puncture the elevated tone of the avowal: …
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Quote Origin: Doctors Are Paid To Talk Nonsense With the Patient Until Nature Heals Or the Remedies Kill
Voltaire? Molière? Jean Scholastique Pitton? Nicolas Frémont d’Ablancourt? Pierre Ortigue de Vaumorière? Benjamin Franklin? Laurence Sterne? Samuel Johnson? Ben Jonson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A family of sayings presents a humorously cynical viewpoint about medicine. Here are four examples: (1) Physicians sit by your bedside till they kill you, or nature cures you. (2) …
Quote Origin: They Lie To Us, We Know They’re Lying, They Know We Know They’re Lying But They Keep Lying Anyway, and We Keep Pretending To Believe Them
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? Elena Gorokhova? Marah Ellis Ryan? Rex Stout? Arleigh A. Burke? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: People living under oppressive rulers know that they are being fed lies, but their responses are limited. Also, the rulers know that the populace contains cynical disbelievers. Yet, the rituals of deception continue: (1) They lie.(2) We know …
Quote Origin: Time Flies; You Cannot; They Pass At Such Irregular Intervals
Mr X of The Royal Magazine? Boys’ Life Magazine? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A linguistic puzzle asks the reader to correctly punctuate the following sentence: Time flies you cannot they pass at such irregular intervals. A similar puzzle asks the reader to punctuate this sentence: Time flies you cannot they go too quickly. Most …
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Quote Origin: The Next Best Thing To Being Clever Is Being Able To Quote Someone Who Is
Mary Pettibone Poole? A. A. Milne? Dorothy L. Sayers? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: If you cannot think of something clever to say then you can resort to the next best strategy. You can quote someone else who is clever. This point has been expressed with a concise statement. Would you please help me to …