Quote Investigator® – Page 108

Quote Origin: Music Is the Most Unpleasant and the Most Expensive of All Noises

Théophile Gautier? Molière? Alphonse Karr? Alexander Dumas père? A Mathematician? Prince Albert? Joseph Coyne? Honoré de Balzac?Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Operas and orchestra concerts are quite expensive productions. A deprecatory wit once grumbled about the outlays. Here are three versions:

Of all the noises known to man, opera is the most expensive.
Opera is the most expensive variety of noise.
Music is the most expensive of all noises.

This thought has been attributed to the prominent French playwright Molière, but I have been unable to find a good citation. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in the 1845 book “Zigzags” by Théophile Gautier, a French dramatist, novelist, and critic; however, Gautier disclaimed credit and ascribed the barb to an unnamed “géomètre” (“mathematician”). Here is an excerpt in French followed by one possible English translation. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:¹

Un soir, j’étais à Drury-Lane. On jouait la Favorite, accommodée au goût britannique, et traduite dans la langue de l’île, ce qui produisait un vacarme difficile à qualifier, et justifiait parfaitement le mot d’un géomètre, qui n’était pas mélomane assurément. — La musique est le plus désagréable et le plus cher de tous les bruits. — Aussi j’écoutais peu, et j’avais le dos tourné au théâtre.

One night I was at Drury Lane. The opera was La Favorite, adapted to the British taste and translated into the language of the island. This produced a din that is difficult to categorize, and perfectly justified the quip of a mathematician, who was certainly not a music lover. — Music is the most unpleasant and the most expensive of all noises. — So I listened little, and my back was turned to the theater.

Molière (pen name of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) died in 1673, and the earliest linkage of the playwright to the saying found by QI appeared many years later in 1956. Details are given further below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: But In Analysing History Do Not Be Too Profound, for Often the Causes Are Quite Superficial

Creator: Ralph Waldo Emerson, prominent American essayist and transcendentalist philosopher

Context: In 1836 when Emerson was 33 years old he wrote in his journal about bloody events in Spain and France. Emphasis added to excerpt:¹

But in analysing history do not be too profound, for often the causes are quite superficial. In the present state of Spain, in the old state of France, and in general in the reigns of Terror, everywhere, there is no Idea, no Principle. It is all scrambling for bread and money. It is the absence of all profound views; of all principle. It is the triumph of the senses, a total skepticism. They are all down on the floor striving each to pick the pocket, or cut the throat that he may pick the pocket, of the other, and the farthest view the miscreants have is the next tavern or brothel where their plunder may glut them.

Acknowledgement: Special thanks to Elisa Gabbert and Brent Gohde who via twitter wondered about the authenticity of this quotation and requested a citation.

Update History: On April 9, 2025 the format of the bibliographical notes was updated.

1910, Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson with Annotations, Edited by Edward Waldo Emerson and Waldo Emerson Forbes, 1836-1838, Volume 4, Journal Date: Nov. 29, 1836, Age of Ralph Waldo Emerson: 33, Quote Page 160 and 161, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. (archive.org) link ↩︎

Quote Origin: One Who Has Imagination Without Learning Has Wings Without Feet

Joseph Joubert? Matthew Arnold? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Imagination is crucial to cogitation, but it must be coupled with knowledge to achieve wholeness. Here are two versions of a germane adage:

He who has imagination without learning has wings but no feet.
One who has imagination without learning has wings without feet.

I was reminded of this saying while reading a QI analysis of a tangentially related quotation about roots and wings. Would you please examine this saying about creativity?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The famous French essayist and aphorist Joseph Joubert died in 1824. His literary reputation was established via material published posthumously. The book “Pensées, Essais et Maximes” (“Thoughts, Essays and Maxims”) appeared in 1842, and the adage under examination was included:¹

Celui qui a de l’imagination sans érudition a des ailes et n’a pas de pieds.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Love Is a Sort of Divine Accident

Hugh Walpole? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Radiant love displays “depth, beauty, and joy”, but achieving this extraordinary relationship is challenging. The bestselling English novelist Hugh Walpole apparently said:

It is a sort of Divine accident.

Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The book “What is Happiness?” consists of essays by ten writers including Sir Hugh Walpole. The collection appeared in London in 1938 and in New York in 1939. Walpole began his reply to the title question by stating: “This is a dangerous question to ask, partly because there is no real answer to it”. Yet, he recognized the centrality of love. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:¹

But the most wonderful of all things in life, I believe, is the discovery of another human being with whom one’s relationship has a glowing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvellous thing; it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of Divine accident.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: I Haven’t Got as Much Money as Some Folks, But I Have Got as Much Impudence as Any of Them, and That Is the Next Thing to Money

Creator: Josh Billings (pen name of Henry Wheeler Shaw), celebrated U.S. humorist

Context: A collection of “Sayings of Josh Billings” appeared in “The Alleghanian” newspaper of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania in 1864. Billings employed phonetic spelling. Here were three of the sayings:¹

I havn’t got as mutch muny az sum folks, but i hav got as much impudence az enny ov them, and that is the next thing tew munny.

It aint often that a man’s reputashunt outlasts his munny.

Don’t mistake arroganse for wisdom; menny people hav thought they wuz wize, when tha waz only windy.

The sayings above also appeared in the 1871 collection “Josh Billings, Hiz Sayings” although the precise phrasing and spelling sometimes differed. For example, in the first expression “mutch” became “much”. Also, “havn’t” was incorrectly changed to “have”.²

1864 October 6, The Alleghanian (The Ebensburg Alleghanian), Sayings of Josh Billings, Quote Page 4, Column 1,Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
1871, Josh Billings, Hiz Sayings with Comic Illustrations, Chapter 39: Remarks, Quote Page 115, Carleton Publisher, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎

Quote Origin: An Editor Is a Person Employed on a Newspaper, Whose Business It Is To Separate the Wheat from the Chaff, and To See that the Chaff Is Printed

Creator: Elbert Hubbard, founder of New York artisan community called Roycrofters, collector and creator of adages

Context: The May 1913 issue of “The Philistine: A Periodical of Protest” published by Elbert Hubbard contained a set of humorous definitions for “editor”:¹

EDITOR: A person employed on a newspaper, whose business it is to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to see that the chaff is printed.

2. A delicate instrument for observing the development and flowering of the deadly mediocre and encouraging its growth

3. A seraphic embryon; a smooth bore; a bit of sandpaper applied to all forms of originality by the publisher-proprietor; an emictory.

A shorter version of the first definition evolved over time. The following appeared in a Meyersdale, Pennsylvania newspaper in 1922 without attribution:²

Editor—One whose business it is to separate the wheat from the chaff and then print the chaff.

Update History: On April 9, 2025 the format of the bibliographical notes was updated.

1913 May, The Philistine: A Periodical of Protest, Volume 36, Number 6, (Definition of Editor), Quote Page 192, Elbert Hubbard: The Society of the Philistines, East Aurora, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
1922 February 23, Meyersdale Republican, The Gloom Chaser, Quote Page 3, Column 2, Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎

Quote Origin: There Will Be Prayers in Our Schools as Long as There Are Final Exams

Ronald Reagan? Ashley Cooper? Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr.? David Condon? The Farmer’s Daughter? Norine Carman? Sam Levenson? Charles Rose? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: The topic of prayers in schools in the U.S. has been controversial for many years. Humorists have reacted with quips such as:

As long as algebra is taught in school, there will be prayer in school.
As long as there are final exams, there will be prayers in our schools.

Apparently, U.S. President Ronald Reagan employed this joke. Would you please explore this remark?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1962 and 1963 the U.S. Supreme Court delivered landmark decisions concerning school prayer. The judges restricted compulsory prayers in school.

Versions of the jest under analysis began to circulate after these key events; however, it is difficult to trace due to the variability of its expression. The earliest instance known to QI appeared in a column by Ashley Cooper in the “The News and Courier” of Charleston, South Carolina in May 1964. The scribe referred to himself comically as “Lord Ashley”. Ashley Cooper was a pseudonym for the bestselling author Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:¹

The Supreme Court may try to ban prayers in school, but there’s no way to ban the silent ones. Lord Ashley predicts that as long as there are final examinations in school, there will be prayers.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: I Had More Fun Doing News Reporting Than in Any Other Enterprise. It Is Really the Life of Kings

H. L. Mencken? Theo Lippman Jr.? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Newspaperman H. L. Mencken is famous for his insightful and acerbic commentaries, but he also spent the early years of his career as a reporter, and he looked back upon that period with fondness. Apparently, he nostalgically described reporting as “the life of kings” and “fun”. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1946 Stanley Walker who had been a reporter and editor at the “New York Herald Tribune” for many years wrote a piece titled “What Makes a Good Reporter?” which included strong praise for Mencken. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:¹

The name H. L. Mencken to most Americans doubtless means either the scholarly “Sage of Baltimore,” or the iconoclast, or the expert on the American language. Actually, whenever he has turned his hand to it, he has produced some of our finest reporting.

Walker extolled Mencken’s reportage during the Scopes Trial in 1925, and he spoke highly of several other journalists. Yet, the article ended with melancholy words about the upcoming generation of reporters:

They do not seem to have much fun, and newspaper work for them is hardly the high adventure that we used to fancy it. But maybe they are right and maybe we were wrong.

In 1946 Mencken read the article, and he sent a letter to Walker containing recollections of happiness:²

I needn’t tell you that I was delighted by your Christian mention of me in “What Makes a Good Reporter”. As I look back over a misspent life I find myself more and more convinced that I had more fun doing news reporting than in any other enterprise. It is really the life of kings.

A tweet on August 10, 2018 from the account of “The Baltimore Sun” included an image showing the full text of the 1946 letter from Mencken to Walker.³

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Our Little Terraqueous Globe Here Is the Madhouse of Those Hundred Thousand Millions of Worlds

Voltaire? Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle? Edward Young? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: The famous French philosopher and satirist Voltaire apparently wrote a story in which the universe consisted of millions of worlds, and Earth was designated a peculiar place:

Our little globe is the lunatic ward of the universe.

Would you please help me to find this story and determine precisely what Voltaire wrote?

Reply from Quote Investigator: This is a complex topic; hence, QI will split the response into three articles; the overview article is available at this link; the article centered on George Bernard Shaw’s quotation is available at this link; the article centered on Voltaire’s quotation is the one you are currently reading.

Voltaire wrote a story “Memnon ou La Sagesse Humaine” (“Memnon or Human Wisdom”) in the late 1740s and published it by 1749. The main character Memnon decides to become a great/perfect philosopher. Sadly, his quest results in a series of disasters that leave him impoverished and physically injured. He then meets an extraterrestrial being who gives him advice and insight. The being tells Memnon to stop his philosophical quest, and he discusses Earth’s place in the universe. Here is an English translation from 1807. Emphasis added to excerpts:¹

“Is it then impossible?” said Memnon.

“As impossible as to be perfectly wise, perfectly strong, perfectly powerful, perfectly happy. We ourselves are very far from it. There is a world indeed where all this takes place; but in the hundred thousand millions of worlds dispersed over the regions of space, every thing goes on by degrees. There is less philosophy and less enjoyment in the second than in the first, less in the third than in the second, and so forth till the last in the scale, where all are completely fools.”

“I am afraid,” said Memnon, “that our little terraqueous globe here is the mad-house of those hundred thousand millions of worlds, of which your Lordship does me the honour to speak.”

“Not quite,” said the spirit, “but very nearly: every thing must be in its proper place.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: I Fell In Love the Way You Fall Asleep: Slowly, and Then All At Once

Creator: John Green (John Michael Green), American author, vlogger, and educator.

Context: John Green’s 2012 novel “The Fault in Our Stars” tells the story of two star-crossed lovers: Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters. The couple agree to read each other’s favorite novels. While Waters is reading to Lancaster from her chosen book she experiences a realization:¹

As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.

In 2014 Green participated in a Question & Answer session via Reddit, and he was asked about the memorable statement:²

Question: The line about falling in love is like falling asleep.. “slowly, then all at once”.. Why do I feel like I’ve heard it before..? More importantly- What inspired it? It’s a great line.

Reply from John Green: There’s a similarish line from Hemingway: “How did you go bankrupt?” “Two ways: Gradually, then suddenly.” So maybe there? That was my initial inspiration for the line.

Acknowledgement: Thanks to Jesse Sheidlower who remarked on the connection between this quotation and the words of Hemingway. Sheidlower also pointed to John’s Green’s acknowledgement of Hemingway.

Update History: On April 10, 2025 the format of the bibliographical notes was updated.

2012, The Fault in Our Stars, Quote Page 125, Dutton Books: An Imprint of Penguin Group USA, New York. (Google Books Preview) ↩︎
Website: Reddit, Reddit Group: r/IAmA, Title: Iam John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars and co-creator of Crash Course and Vlogbrothers. AMA!, Questions and Responses Topic for: John Green, Date on website: May 29, 2014, Website description: Discussion forum; “The front page of the internet”. (Accessed reddit.com on August 8, 2018) link ↩︎