Tracing Quotations
F. Scott Fitzgerald? Aubrey Grey? Harriett G. Hancock? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A smile can raise the spirits of oneself and others. This thought has been conveyed as follows: It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light, it scattered the night and made the …
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Voltaire? Mark Twain? Richard Brinsley Sheridan? John Bright? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Legal conflicts are extraordinarily expensive and time-consuming for all the participants. Even the winner of a lawsuit can suffer financially. The ill-fated contender in two legal entanglements once said something like the following. Here are two versions. The word “gained” is …
Oscar Wilde? Robert Ross? Rudolf Flesch? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Modern life seems to be extremely complicated, but the underlying principles of a worthwhile life are quite simple. I am reminded of the following quotation: Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing. These …
Pearl S. Buck? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following statement has been attributed to the prominent U.S. writer Pearl S. Buck: If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all. Would you please help me to find the context of this remark together with a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: …
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Isaac Asimov? Leonard Nimoy? Allen Ginsberg? Jane Kramer? Donald A. Wollheim? Chester Whitehorn? Ric Ocasek? Greg Hawkes? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Nowadays technological changes are occurring with vertiginous rapidity, and I am reminded of statements like these: We live in a science-fiction age. Yesterday’s fantasy is already today’s fact. There’s nothing to be learned …
Warren Buffett? Anonymous? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Famous U.S. investor Warren Buffett once described the three traits he looked for in new employees. A worker should have integrity, intelligence, and energy. Apparently, Buffett believed that the first trait was crucial because its absence would cause the other two traits to kill a business. Would …
Frederick Douglass? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Whenever a person is being evaluated it is necessary to consider the adversities that have impeded their progress. One should measure the heights achieved, but one should also consider the original challenging depths experienced by an individual. The famous orator Frederick Douglass said something like this. Would you …
William Faulkner? Stephen King? R. M. Allen? Lavon Rascoe? Lauren Passell? Ben Yagoda? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent novelist was once asked for advice by an aspiring author. The scribe offered the following crucial guidance: Read, read, read. Read everything. Highbrow, middlebrow, and lowbrow material were all deemed acceptable choices for scrutiny. Would …
Arthur C. Clarke? Stanley Kubrick? Mark Twain? J. B. S. Haldane? Question for Quote Investigator: Rapid computer hardware and software developments combined with extreme speculations about a technological singularity have led some science fiction writers to complain that envisioning the future has become too difficult. I am reminded of the following disclaimer for a novel: …
Mark Twain? Steven Wright? Senator Sorghum? Philander Chase Johnson? Neal O’Hara? Felix Nieto del Rio? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A morally upright individual strives to maintain a clear conscience. Yet, satisfying this goal is not always praiseworthy: Often a person with a clear conscience merely has a poor memory. This quip has been credited …
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