Quote Investigator® – Page 11

Quote Origin: Time Is the Coin of Your Life. It Is the Only Coin You Have

Carl Sandburg? Ralph McGill? Apocryphal?

Illustration of a plant growing from coins from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: It is too easy to waste time on frivolous, foolish, or self-destructive pursuits. Apparently, a prominent literary figure once equated time to a valuable coin which each person must spend wisely. Would you please help me find the correct phrasing and a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Ralph McGill was a well-known journalist, editor, and publisher of “The Atlanta Constitution” newspaper in Georgia. In October 1959 McGill wrote a column in which he recalled a discussion he held with the popular poet and biographer Carl Sandburg. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

I keep remembering a conversation with Carl Sandburg.

“Time,” he said, “is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have and only you can determine how to spend it. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.”

The accuracy of this quotation is dependent on the memory and veracity of Ralph McGill.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Definition of a Classic—Something That Everybody Wants To Have Read and Nobody Wants To Read

Mark Twain? Caleb Thomas Winchester? Frank Norris? Otto F. Ege? Apocryphal?

Book shelf filled with classic works of literature from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: Classic works of literature are sometimes difficult or tedious to read. Apparently, a humorist once said something like the following:

(1) Definition of a classic—something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.

(2) A classic is something that everyone wants to have read and no one wants to read.

This notion has been credited to Mark Twain, but I have not yet seen a precise citation, and I am unsure of the phrasing. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1900 Mark Twain delivered a speech at the Nineteenth Century Club in New York, and he employed this quip; however, he did not take credit for the line. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Professor Winchester also said something about there being no modern epics like Paradise Lost. I guess he’s right. He talked as if he was pretty familiar with that piece of literary work, and nobody would suppose that he never had read it. I don’t believe any of you have ever read Paradise Lost, and you don’t want to.

That’s something that you just want to take on trust. It’s a classic, just as Professor Winchester says, and it meets his definition of a classic—something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.

Twain attributed the joke to Caleb Thomas Winchester who was a Professor of English Literature at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.²

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: One of the Great Mistakes Is to Judge Policies and Programs by Their Intentions Rather Than Their Results

Milton Friedman? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Economic policies are typically promulgated and enacted with high purposes and goals, yet sometimes the results are inadvertently deleterious. A prominent economist once said:

One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.

These words have been credited to U.S. economist Milton Friedman. I have not been able to find a citation, Would you please help determine if this attribution is accurate?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1975 Milton Friedman appeared on the television show “The Open Mind”, and he was interviewed by the host Richard Heffner. Friedman employed the quotation. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results. We all know a famous road that is paved with good intentions.

The people who go around talking about their soft heart — I share their — I admire them for the softness of their heart, but unfortunately, it very often extends to their head as well, because the fact is that the programs that are labeled as being for the poor, for the needy, almost always have effects exactly the opposite of those which their well-intentioned sponsors intend them to have.

Friedman was referring to the proverb “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Social Media Gives the Right To Speak To Legions of Imbeciles Who Previously Only Spoke in Bars After Drinking

Umberto Eco? Dery Dyer? Apocryphal?

**Illustration of a jester’s hat from Pixabay**

Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent intellectual once denounced social media because it amplified the voices of imbeciles who in the past only propounded their opinions at local bars after drinking.

This notion has been attributed to the Italian semiotician and novelist Umberto Eco who wrote “Il Nome Della Rosa” (“The Name of the Rose”) and “Il Pendolo di Foucault” (“Foucault’s Pendulum”). Would you please help me to find a citation and determine the correct phrasing of Eco’s remark?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 2015 Umberto Eco received an honorary degree in “Comunicazione e Cultura dei media” (“Communication and Media Culture”) from the University of Turin. The Italian newspaper “La Stampa” (“The Press”) reported that Eco spoke to journalists after the conferral, and he delivered the following harsh judgment in Italian. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

«I social media danno diritto di parola a legioni di imbecilli che prima parlavano solo al bar dopo un bicchiere di vino, senza danneggiare la collettività. Venivano subito messi a tacere, mentre ora hanno lo stesso diritto di parola di un Premio Nobel. È l’invasione degli imbecilli».

Here is one possible translation into English:

“Social media gives the right to speak to legions of imbeciles who previously only spoke at the bar after a glass of wine, without damaging the community. They were immediately silenced, but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It’s the invasion of imbeciles.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: There Are Years That Ask Questions and Years That Answer

Zora Neale Hurston? Apocryphal?

**Multi-colored question marks from Pixabay**

Question for Quote Investigator: A new year brings uncertainties and choices. The uncertainties will be resolved in a future year. A prominent literary figure once wrote:

There are years that ask questions and years that answer.

This statement has been attributed to U.S. writer Zora Neale Hurston. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1937 Zora Neale Hurston published the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” which included the following passage. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

There are years that ask questions and years that answer. Janie had had no chance to know things, so she had to ask. Did marriage end the cosmic loneliness of the unmated? Did marriage compel love like the sun the day?

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: The Distinction Between Past, Present, and Future Is Only a Stubbornly Persistent Illusion

Albert Einstein? Freeman Dyson? H. Dieter Zeh? Apocryphal?

Silhouette of a person standing before a starfield

Question for Quote Investigator: The universe can be modeled as a vast four-dimensional spacetime manifold. From this viewpoint, time does not change; instead, the universe is static and timeless. Here are four versions of a statement attributed to the famous physicist Albert Einstein:

(1) The separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one.

(2) This separation between past, present, and future has the value of mere illusion, however tenacious.

(3) The distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.

(4) Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

I have not been able to find a citation. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In March 1972 “The New York Times” published an article titled “Some of Einstein’s Reflections, Aphorisms and Observations” which included a version of the quotation. The article printed an excerpt from a letter dated March 21, 1955 from Albert Einstein to family members of Michele Angelo Besso who had died recently. Besso had been Einstein’s lifelong friend. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

With the departure from this strange world, he now has gone a little ahead of me. This is of no significance. For us believing physicists, the separation between past, present and future has only the meaning of an illusion, albeit a tenacious one.

The original German version of Einstein’s quotation can be seen in a book by physicist H. Dieter Zeh titled “The Physical Basis of the Direction of Time”:²

Four weeks before his death Albert Einstein wrote in a letter of condolence to the family of his life-long friend Michael Besso . . . “Für uns gläubige Physiker hat die Scheidung zwischen Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft nur die Bedeutung einer wenn auch hartnäckigen Illusion.”

There is no doubt that Einstein meant this remark very seriously. It obviously refers to the four-dimensional (‘static’ or ‘objective’) representation of all events in a spacetime frame which his theory of relativity uses so efficiently.

A scan of Einstein’s 1955 letter is viewable on the website of Christie’s auction house where it is accompanied with an article discussing the quotation.³

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: In a Football Match, Everything Is Complicated by the Presence of the Opposite Team

Jean-Paul Sartre? Alan Sheridan-Smith? Apocryphal?

**Picture of a football (soccer ball) from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: The presence of an adversary makes planning more complex because the achievement of goals requires the anticipation of counter-measures. A famous philosopher once said something like the following:

In football everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team.

The term “football” corresponds to “soccer” in North America. The above statement has been attributed to French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1960 Jean-Paul Sartre published “Critique de la Raison Dialectique” (“Critique of Dialectical Reason”) which included the following text within a footnote. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

En fait, dans un match de football, tout se complique du fait de la présence de l’équipe adverse. Il y a réciprocité positive entre les coéquipiers dans une rigoureuse liaison avec une réciprocité négative et antagonistique. Mais cette complexité ne change rien à notre problème.

Sartre’s work was translated into English by Alan Sheridan-Smith and published in 1976. The passage above was rendered as follows:²

In fact, in a football match, everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team. The positive reciprocity between members of a team is closely connected with a negative and antagonistic reciprocity. But this complication does not alter our problem in any way.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Words Make You Think a Thought. Music Makes You Feel a Feeling. A Song Makes You Feel a Thought

Yip Harburg? Jay Gorney? Caryl Brahms? Ned Sherrin? Apocryphal?

**Members of a music band playing and singing from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent songwriter once stated that words are used to make a person think a thought, and music is used to make a person feel a feeling, but the goal of a song is different and more powerful:

A song makes you feel a thought.

This notion has been attributed to U.S. lyricist Yip Harburg who wrote the words for several famous songs including “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” (with Jay Gorney), “April in Paris”, and “Over the Rainbow”. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1984 Caryl Brahms and Ned Sherrin published “Song by Song: The Lives and Work of 14 Great Lyric Writers” which included a section about Yip Harburg. The authors printed an excerpt from a speech delivered by Harburg in 1970 during which he emphasized the potency of combining words and music. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Together they go places … words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought. Together they stand ready to soothe not only the savage breast, but the stubborn mind . . . a new idea can find a soft spot — even under a hard hat.

The greatest romance in the life of the lyricist is when the right word meets the right note; often however, a Park Avenue phrase elopes with a Blecker Street chord resulting in a shotgun wedding and a quickie divorce.

QI believes that this evidence is substantive, and it indicates that Yip Harburg deserves credit for the statement under investigation. Brahms and Sherrin stated that they accessed a tape of Harburg’s 1970 lecture supplied by Maurice Levine² who organized the lecture series which was titled “Lyrics and Lyricists”.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: All of Bach, Streamed Out Into Space, Over and Over Again. We Would Be Bragging

Carl Sagan? Lewis Thomas? Douglas Adams? Stephen Fry? Anonymous?

Cover of the Voyager Golden Record (Public domain NASA/JPL)

Question for Quote Investigator: Suppose humanity decided to deliberately send a message out into space. What should be included in that message which might someday be read by a hypothetical alien civilization?

In fact, the U.S. launched two robotic interstellar probes in 1977, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. Mission planners decided to include a golden phonograph record containing pictures and sounds of Earth. Apparently, one person contemplating this topic said something like the following. Here are two versions:

(1) We should send recordings of Bach, but we would just be showing off.
(2) I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach, but that would be boasting.

This notion has been attributed to astronomer Carl Sagan, essayist Lewis Thomas, science fiction author Douglas Adams, and comedian Stephen Fry. Would you please help me to determine the correct phrasing and the identity of the commentator?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1974 physician Lewis Thomas published a collection of essays titled “The Lives of a Cell”. One piece discussed the “First International Conference on Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence” which had been held in 1972. Astronomers who attended considered the use of electromagnetic signals for communicating with possible civilizations throughout space. Lewis believed that other lifeforms would probably be more than a hundred light years away. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Whatever information we provide must still make sense to us two centuries later, and must still seem important, or the conversation will be an embarrassment to all concerned. In two hundred years it is, as we have found, easy to lose the thread.

Perhaps the safest thing to do at the outset, if technology permits, is to send music. This language may be the best we have for explaining what we are like to others in space, with least ambiguity. I would vote for Bach, all of Bach, streamed out into space, over and over again. We would be bragging, of course, but it is surely excusable for us to put the best possible face on at the beginning of such an acquaintance. We can tell the harder truths later.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: People Do Not Stop Playing Because They Grow Old; They Grow Old Because They Stop Playing

Herbert Spencer? G. Stanley Hall? Karl Groos? George L. Knapp? George Bernard Shaw? Anonymous?

Illustration of young people playing from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: Children enjoy playing, yet this rambunctious and exploratory spirit often fades with age. The following adage encourages the retention of a youthful temperament. Here are four versions:

(1) People do not cease playing because they grow old, but they grow old because they cease playing.
(2) We do not so much quit playing because we grow old, as grow old because we quit playing.
(3) We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.
(4) People grow old because they stop playing, and not conversely.

The first three sayings above employ a rhetorical device called antimetabole. Words in the first half of the statement are reordered in the second half.

This notion has been attributed to English polymath Herbert Spencer, U.S. psychologist G. Stanley Hall, German philosopher Karl Groos, and Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI believes that this family of sayings evolved over time. The earliest strong match found by QI appeared in the 1904 book “Adolescence: Its Psychology and Its Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion and Education” by G. Stanley Hall. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

. . . men grow old because they stop playing, and not conversely . . .

QI has not found any substantive evidence that Herbert Spencer employed this saying. He died in 1903, and he received credit by 1915.

QI has not found any substantive evidence that George Bernard Shaw employed this saying. He died in 1950, and he received credit by 1983.

Karl Groos penned a closely related remark which inspired Hall to craft his remark. Details are presented below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.