Quote Origin: If You Want To Be a Grocer, or a General, or a Politician, or a Judge, You Will Invariably Become It; That Is Your Punishment

Oscar Wilde? Stephen Fry? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following remark about selecting a career is comically acerbic: If you want to be a grocer, or a general, or a politician, or a judge, you will invariably become it; that is your punishment. The statement above has been attributed to the famous Irish playwright …

Quote Origin: You Have To Be Careful To Protect the Rights of People You Despise

Daniel Patrick Moynihan? Robert Lenzer? John Rhoades? Ann Landers? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A society which grants wide liberties and constitutional rights to engage in speech and action will contain people who are performing activities deemed distasteful or reprehensible by many. The following remark is pertinent: You have to be careful to protect the …

Quote Origin: People Don’t Care How Much You Know Until They Know How Much You Care

Theodore Roosevelt? Margaret Tyson? Zig Ziglar? John C. Maxwell? James F. Hind? Beltone Hearing Aid Company? Question for Quote Investigator: Interpersonal relationships are based on trust. A knowledgeable person can be impressive, but another quality is more important when establishing a connection. Here is a pertinent adage: People don’t care how much you know until …

Quote Origin: Promise People That They Will Have a Chance of Maltreating Someone

Aldous Huxley? George Sokolsky? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Social media enables people to express righteous indignation by joining together to form electronic mobs.  The chance to target and maltreat individuals while maintaining a good conscience is psychologically appealing. The opportunity to hurt and pull down others is enticing to some people. Apparently, the English …

Quote Origin: Show Me a Good Loser and I’ll Show You a Loser

Knute Rockne? Red Auerbach? Robert Zuppke? Fred Taylor? Richard Nixon? Jimmy Carter? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Any participant in competitive sports must eventually experience defeat. The value of good sportsmanship has been emphasized by many mentors. Different terms have been employed to contrast the divergent reactions to defeat: “gracious loser”, “good loser”, “poor loser”, …

Quote Origin: Art Is the Window of a Person’s Soul. Without It, They Would Never Be Able To See Beyond Their Immediate World

Lady Bird Johnson? Claudia Alta Johnson? Jill Biden? Henry Seldis? Question for Quote Investigator: A First Lady of the United States once spoke about the importance of experiencing great art. She said that art was the window of person’s soul. Art was required to see beyond the immediate everyday world and to see the inner …

Quote Origin: As Soon As It Works, No One Calls It AI Anymore

John McCarthy? Pamela McCorduck? Bertram Raphael? Donald Michie? Melanie Mitchell? Bertrand Meyer? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) researchers tackled a variety of challenging problems. One early goal was the development of symbolic mathematics systems capable of  performing polynomial factorization, integration, and differentiation. Researchers made such great progress that this field was …

Quote Origin: People More Frequently Require To Be Reminded Than Informed

Samuel Johnson? C. S. Lewis? Peggy Noonan? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: People often know what they should be doing. A didactic lecture is not required. Instead, a simple reminder is adequate to inspire appropriate action. Here are four examples from a family of pertinent sayings: (1) Men more frequently require to be reminded than …

Quote Origin: Trust Everybody, But Cut the Cards

Finley Peter Dunne? Martin Dooley? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: One should be generous when conveying trust, but one should not be gullible or naïve. One must take precautions and defend oneself. An adage from the domain of card games presents this viewpoint: Trust everybody, but cut the cards. This notion has been attributed to …

Quote Origin: What I Learned, I No Longer Know. What Little I Still Know, I Have Guessed

Nicolas Chamfort? Charles de Talleyrand? Catherine Gore? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A student is taught numerous topics during a formal education, yet most details are swiftly forgotten once schooling is completed. A wit composed the following candid remark: All that I’ve learned, I’ve forgotten. The little that I still know, I’ve guessed. This saying …