Quote Origin: Real Success Is Finding Your Lifework in the Work That You Love

David McCullough? Mark Twain? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough has received credit for an insightful expression about career choice: Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love. I am having difficulty finding a citation. Would you please help? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1996 David McCullough …

Quote Origin: There Are Moments When Time and Space Are More Profound, and the Sensation of Existence Is Immensely Heightened

Charles Baudelaire? Christopher Isherwood? Sonya Stephens? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The French poet, essayist, and art critic Charles Baudelaire wrote provocatively about his experiences in life including erotic feelings, drug-induced states, and cosmic perceptions. Apparently, he once said: There are moments in one’s existence when time and space are deepened, and the feeling of …

Quote Origin: Ten Percent Should Not Even Be Here. Eighty Percent Are Targets. One Is a Warrior

Heraclitus? John DiFusco? Tracers? Paul Whitesell? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus has received credit for the following statement which is popular in the military domain: Out of every one-hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky …

Quote Origin: Fauvism Is a Sort of Exasperated Form of Impressionism

Guillaume Apollinaire? John Golding? Ian Crofton? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Les fauves means the wild beasts in French, and Fauvism was a style of painting that developed near the start of the 20th century. Apparently, a contemporary critic stated the following: Fauvism is a sort of exasperated form of Impressionism. This remark has been …

Quote Origin: Satire Is Meant To Ridicule Power

Terry Pratchett? Vrabia? J. M. Frey? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Satire has been used to attack a wide variety of targets. Cruel or mean-spirited mockery is often controversial. Here is a pertinent quotation: Satire is meant to ridicule power. If you are laughing at people who are hurting, it’s not satire, it’s bullying. These …

Quote Origin: There Are Three Things a Person Can Make Out of Almost Nothing — a Salad, a Hat, and a Quarrel

Mark Twain? Coco Chanel? John Barrymore? Marlene Dietrich? Jackie Kannon? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A creative person can fashion a hat out of almost any scrap of fabric. An imaginative person can combine a wide variety of ingredients to create a salad. An irascible person can generate a quarrel from a mild disagreement. These …

Headline Origin: Foot Heads Arms Body

Roger Bacon? Mike Ramsden? David C. Allan? Alex Berlyne? Martyn Cornell? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: According to a popular journalistic legend a newspaper in London once published the following difficult to decipher headline: Foot Heads Arms Body This headline was purportedly about British politician Michael Foot who had become the leader of an organization …

Quote Origin: You Never Change Anything By Fighting It; You Change Things By Making Them Obsolete Through Superior Technology

Buckminster Fuller? Mike Vance? Diane Deacon? Daniel Quinn? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Inventor and futurist R. Buckminster Fuller once spoke about the best way to accomplish positive changes. He said that one rarely changes something by fighting it directly. Instead, one should build a new system or model that makes the existing model obsolete. …

Anecdote Origin: “You Have Come Late To the Office” “Oh! I’ll Make Up For It By Leaving Early”

Charles Lamb? Thomas Love Peacock? William Makepeace Thackeray? Frederick Saunders? Oscar Wilde? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A humorous anecdote depicts an absurdist interaction between a worker and a supervisor: Supervisor: “You have arrived late for work.”Worker: “Yes, but I will make up for it by leaving early.” This reply has been attributed to the …

Quote Origin: One of the Best Ways To Persuade Others Is With Your Ears — By Listening To Them

Dean Rusk? Jacob Morton Braude? Reader’s Digest? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: If you wish to influence or persuade a person you must attempt to determine their viewpoint. You must be attentive to their needs and desires. Here are two versions of a pertinent saying: (1) One of the best ways to persuade others is …