Tracing Quotations
Aeschylus? Philip Snowden? Ethel Annakin? Samuel Johnson? Anne MacVicar Grant? E. D. Morel? W. T. Foster? Agnes Maude Royden? Hiram Johnson? Arthur Ponsonby? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The participants in a violent conflict often engage in crude propaganda and advocacy. Here are four versions of a pertinent saying: This adage has been credited to …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Truth Is the First Casualty in War”
Grantland Rice? Herman Melville? Herbert Hoover? Reverend E. W. Elstron? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A mournful anti-war poem contains this line: All wars are planned by older men in council rooms apart. The poem has been attributed to Grantland Rice who was a popular sports journalist. I have seen a version of the verse …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: All Wars Are Planned by Older Men in Council Rooms Apart”
Sarah Churchill? James Agate? A. L. Rowse? Theodor Reik? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A legend asserts that Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough wrote a passionate remark in her diary. Here are three versions: Are any of these statements genuine? What evidence is available? Reply from Quote Investigator: Several researchers have attempted to explore this …
George Bernard Shaw? Anthony Anderson? Wilhelm Stekel? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The playwright George Bernard Shaw apparently contended that indifference to another person was a greater transgression than hatred. He called this indifference a sin. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: George Bernard Shaw’s play “The Devil’s …
Carol Weston? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Displaying false modesty is sometimes intended to elicit praise. This type of behavior is called “fishing for compliments”. Yet, according to a well-known comical scenario an unlucky individual may reel in a fishing line and discover a useless boot attached to the hook. Would you please explore the …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Beware of Fishing for Compliments—You Might Come Up with a Boot”
Rollo May? Earl Nightingale? Jim Hightower? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Uncommon or unconventional thoughts and behaviors can elicit hostility. To avoid estrangement many people consciously or unconsciously conform to societal expectations. Pursuing an individual path requires bravery and determination. Consider the following adage: The opposite of courage isn’t cowardice; it’s conformity. This notion has …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Opposite of Courage Is Not Cowardice; It Is Conformity”
Nikola Tesla? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous inventor Nikola Tesla envisioned a future in which human lives would be spared during warfare because advanced technology would allow the construction of fighting automatons. This would transform “battle into a mere spectacle” of machines in combat. Tesla hoped that the end of bloodshed would lead …
George Bernard Shaw? Alexander Pope? H. W. James? Thomas Henry Huxley? Paul Janet? George Pellew? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently I saw a tweet with a quotation attributed to the famous playwright and intellectual George Bernard Shaw: Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. I haven’t been able to find a …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Beware of His False Knowledge: It Is More Dangerous Than Ignorance”
Helen Keller? Walt Whitman? Charles Swain? Celia Burleigh? Lydia G. Worth? Edmund Cooke? M. B. Whitman? Maori Proverb? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular metaphorical framework equates sunlight to positive situations and shadow to unfavorable conditions. Here are two instances of an adage about maintaining an optimistic perspective: This notion has been credited to prominent …
Leonardo da Vinci? John H. Secondari? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous Renaissance figure Leonardo da Vinci has been given credit for a remark about the experience of flight: Once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. How could Leonardo know something like this? I am skeptical …