Quote Investigator® – Page 14

Maxim Origin: A Picture Is Worth Ten Thousand Words

Arthur Brisbane? Confucius? Kathleen Caffyn? Frederick R. Barnard? Robert Maguire? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: A famous adage highlights the value of illustrations and photographs. Here are four versions:

(1) A picture is worth ten thousand words
(2) A picture is worth a thousand words.
(3) One picture is worth a ten thousand words.
(4) One picture is worth a thousand words.

This saying has been attributed to prominent U.S. newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane, advertising executive Frederick R. Barnard, and Chinese sage Confucius. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Tracing this saying is a challenging task because the expression has evolved over time. Despite this complexity, QI believes that the primary credit for the adage should go to Arthur Brisbane.

In March 1911 “The Post-Standard” of Syracuse, New York reported on a speech delivered by Brisbane who discussed the effective use of pictures:¹

“If I show you a picture of a pebble half an inch high on a magazine page and ask you how high it is, you cannot tell,” he said. “But if I put a housefly beside it twice as large as the pebble, you say it is a grain of sand. If I take out the fly and put a man on horseback on top of the pebble you say it is a boulder.”

Brisbane stated his thesis with the following two sentences. The phrasing differed from the statement under examination, but the meaning and vocabulary were the same. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:

“Use a picture. It’s worth a thousand words.”

In July 1915 Brisbane published a piece in the “New Orleans Item” which included two vivid illustrations. Beneath the illustrations Brisbane wrote a statement using “ten thousand”. This was the earliest exact match known to QI for one of the statements in the inquiry above:²

A picture is worth ten thousand words.
If you can’t see the truth in these pictures you are among the vast majority that must learn only by experience.

An overview showing the evolution of the expression with key phrases, dates, and attributions appears immediately below.

Origin of Writing Advice: I Can Fix a Bad Page. I Can’t Fix a Blank One

Nora Roberts? Eileen Wilks? Lori Avocato? Susan Elizabeth Phillips? Bonnie Hearn Hill? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: When you are attempting to write a book you must move forward and put words on a blank page or screen even if you fear that your output is flawed. Eventually, you will be able to revise and improve your initial draft. This writing advice can be summarized in the following two ways:

(1) I can fix a bad page. I can’t fix a blank one.
(2) You can’t fix a blank page.

Who crafted this advice? Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In July 1997 “USA Today” published a piece about bestselling romance and suspense author Nora Roberts. She commented on her writing process. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

She says she would never crib an idea from another book — let alone take dialogue or entire scenes — even if her prose wasn’t coming easily. “I believe writing is a discipline. I write every day. Even if I’m not writing well, I write through it. I can fix a bad page. I can’t fix a blank one.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Most of Us Are About as Eager To Be Changed as We Were To Be Born

James Baldwin? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Change is onerous. The prominent writer James Baldwin once constructed a vivid analogy between change and birth. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1977 James Baldwin published an article titled “Every Good-bye Ain’t Gone” in “New York” magazine containing the following passage. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Most of us are about as eager to be changed as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state of shock. Including this writer, of course, who was far, however, years ago, from being able to forgive himself for being so irretrievably human.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Spaceship Earth: No Instruction Book Came With It

Buckminster Fuller? Richard Dreyfuss? C. S. Lewis? William Nicholson? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent futurist once said that our planet did not come with an instruction book. Therefore, we should act carefully while creating our own instruction book for living and flourishing. I think the author of this notion was Buckminster Fuller. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1969 Robert Buckminster Fuller published “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth”. He asserted that our planet should be viewed as a spaceship requiring care and maintenance. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

We have not been seeing our Spaceship Earth as an integrally-designed machine which to be persistently successful must be comprehended and serviced in total.

Now there is one outstandingly important fact regarding Spaceship Earth, and that is that no instruction book came with it. I think it’s very significant that there is no instruction book for successfully operating our ship. In view of the infinite attention to all other details displayed by our ship, it must be taken as deliberate and purposeful that an instruction book was omitted.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: All You Need To Make a Movie Is a Girl and a Gun

Jean-Luc Godard? D. W. Griffith? Evelyn D. Miller? Frederick James Smith? George W. Sears? John Philip Sousa? Abel Gance? Fredric Wertham? Charlie Chaplin? John Boorman? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: A powerful and jaded film director once listed the two crucial ingredients to achieve success:

All you need for a movie is a girl and a gun.

This adage has been attributed to French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard and influential early filmmaker D. W. Griffith (David Wark Griffith). Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In May 1922 the periodical “Shadowland” published an interview with D. W. Griffith conducted by Frederick James Smith. Griffith complained that audiences wanted unrealistic films with romanticized characters and broad humor. Boldface added to excepts by QI:¹

“I fear that we must go on sugar-coating life, idealizing our celluloid characters and falling back upon the absurdly palpable demand for crêpe-paper comedy, such as you find in ‘Way Down East’ and ‘Orphans of the Storm.’” And Mr. Griffith smiled.

We once heard an interesting tale of Mr. Griffith’s formula for screen success, a rather striking sidelight upon his view of what the public wants. “A gun and a girl,” ran his reported recipe for film popularity. And, when one comes to consider the matter, probably the director is right.

Thus, Smith credited Griffith with the remark about “a gun and a girl”, but Smith did not claim that Griffith spoke the phrase during the 1922 interview. Instead, the quotation was second-hand, and it was from Smith’s memory.

Jean Luc-Godard received credit for presenting this formula by 1992, but it was already in circulation. See details below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Instead of Writing Criticism, I Make a Film

Jean-Luc Godard? Roger Ebert? Gene Siskel? Nancy O’Higgins? Apocryphal

Question for Quote Investigator: An influential film critic decided to become a filmmaker. Here are four versions of the explanation provided by the critic for this notable transformation:

1. Instead of writing criticism, I make a film.
2. The only way to criticize a movie is to make another movie.
3. The best way to criticize a movie is to make another movie.
4. If you mean to criticize a movie, make another movie.

These statements have all been attributed to French auteur Jean-Luc Godard. Did he deliver any of these remarks? Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: During the 1950s Jean-Luc Godard penned critiques of films. In 1960 he released his first feature-length film titled “À bout de souffle” (“Breathless”). The journal “Cahiers du Cinéma” (“Cinema Notebooks”) published an issue dedicated to “Nouvelle Vague” (“New Wave“) cinema in 1962 which included an interview with Godard. Here is an excerpt in French followed by an English rendition. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

En tant que critique, je me considérais déjà comme cinéaste. Aujourd’hui je me considère toujours comme critique, et, en un sens, je le suis plus encore qu’avant. Au lieu de faire une critique, je fais un film, quitte à y introduire la dimension critique. Je me considère comme un essayiste, je fais des essais en forme de romans ou des romans en forme d’essais : simplement, je les filme au lieu de les écrire. Si le cinéma devait disparaître, je me ferais une raison : je passerais à la télévision, et si la télévision devait disparaître, je reviendrais au papier et au crayon.

As a critic, I already considered myself a filmmaker. Today I still consider myself a critic, and in a way I am even more so than before. Instead of writing criticism, I make a film, even if it means introducing the critical dimension into it. I consider myself an essayist, I do essays in the form of novels or novels in the form of essays: I simply film them instead of writing them. If the cinema were to disappear, I would accept the change and switch to television, and if television were to disappear, I would return to paper and pencil.

Thus, the first statement mentioned within the inquiry above was employed by Jean-Luc Godard in French in 1962. The other three statements have each been attributed to Godard by Chicago film critic Roger Ebert starting in the 1970s. See the detailed citations presented further below.

QI conjectures that Ebert’s versions of Godard’s remark were derived directly or indirectly from the 1962 interview. Yet, it remains possible that Godard made a remark in French that closely matched one of Ebert’s instances which QI has not yet discovered. Future researchers may clarify the situation.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: No Matter What Situation You’re In, Find Something Good About It

Wilma Mankiller? Cherokee Precept? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Everyone faces major setbacks in life. Maintaining a constructive outlook is essential to being resilient and moving forward. The following guidance can be difficult to follow, but it is enormously helpful:

No matter what situation you’re in, find something good about it.

This advice has been attributed to Wilma Mankiller who was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. It has also been called a Cherokee precept taught by the elders of the tribe. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1991 the Sunday newspaper supplement “Parade” magazine published a profile of Wilma Mankiller. The article referred to a terrible automobile accident that injured Mankiller:¹

. . . in the fall of 1979, an oncoming car collided with her station wagon. She regained consciousness in the hospital, with her face crushed, ribs broken and legs shattered. Months of recovery included a series of operations and plastic surgery on her face.

The article described the psychological and physical healing process:

To sustain herself through recovery, she explains, she drew upon precepts that the Cherokee elders had taught her:

“Have a good mind. No matter what situation you’re in, find something good about it, rather than the negative things. And in dealing with other human beings, find the good in them as well.

“We are all interdependent. Do things for others—tribe, family, community—rather than just for yourself.

“Look forward. Turn what has been done into a better path. If you’re a leader, think about the impact of your decisions on seven generations into the future.”

Below are two additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: A Person With One Watch Knows What Time It Is. A Person With Two Watches Is Never Sure

Mark Twain? Albert Einstein? Lee Segall? Lee Segal? J. Millar Watt? John Peer? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: According to a clever quip it is better to have one watch instead of two. The quip has been attributed to humorist Mark Twain, physicist Albert Einstein, broadcaster Lee Segall, and others. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match known to QI appeared in “The San Diego Union” of California in September 1930 as a filler item. The creator of the quip was unnamed. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Confusion—Retail jewelers assert that every man should carry two watches. But a man with one watch knows what time it is, and a man with two watches could never be sure.

The ascription remains anonymous. QI has found no substantive evidence supporting the attributions to Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, and John Peer. Lee Segall probably did employ the joke by 1961, but this occurred only after the joke had been circulating for three decades.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: I Always Prefer To Believe the Best of Everybody. It Saves So Much Trouble

Rudyard Kipling? Mrs. Mallowe? Mrs. Hauksbee? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: The following quotation embodies an irrepressible optimism:

I always prefer to believe the best of everybody. It saves so much trouble.

The famous author Rudyard Kipling has received credit for this remark, but I haven’t been able to find a citation. Are these really his words? Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1888 Rudyard Kipling published the collection “Under the Deodars” which included the story “A Second-Rate Woman”. Two characters named Mrs. Mallowe, and Mrs. Hauksbee exchanged comments about their beliefs. Boldface added to excepts by QI:¹

“I am prepared to credit any evil of The Dancing Master, because I hate him so. And The Dowd is so disgustingly badly dressed———.”

“That she, too, is capable of every iniquity? I always prefer to believe the best of everybody. It saves so much trouble.”

“Very good. I prefer to believe the worst. It saves useless expenditure of sympathy.”

Thus, Kipling wrote the remark, but it was spoken by a fictional character. Also, another character immediately presented the opposite viewpoint.

Below are selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: God’s Way of Pointing You in a New Direction

Oprah Winfrey? Mike Patrick? Peter A. LaPorta? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Failure is painful, but it also provides an opportunity to learn. An apparent defeat may be transformed into a victory by using hard-won knowledge to discover a different pathway to success. The prominent television producer, entrepreneur, and actress Oprah Winfrey concisely communicated this same idea during a graduation speech. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In May 2007 Oprah Winfrey delivered the commencement address at Howard University in Washington D.C., and the C-SPAN video archive contains a recording. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

So here are a few things I want you to know that I know for sure. Don’t be afraid. All you have to know is who you are. Because there is no such thing as failure. There is no such thing as failure. What other people label or might try to call failure I have learned is just God’s way of pointing you in a new direction.

Below are selected citations in chronological order.