Kin Hubbard? Will Rogers? Elbert Hubbard? Abe Martin? Max Eastman? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Proselytizers for get-rich-quick schemes are ubiquitous online. A popular joke describes a comically easy way to obtain illusory wealth. Here are two versions: (1) To get rich you should convert your money to bills. Next, you should fold the bills, …
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Quote Origin: A Mistake Is Just Another Way of Doing Things
Katharine Graham? Warren Bennis? Chris Hildyard? E. B. White? Luc de Clapiers? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Making mistakes in life is inevitable. Thus, learning to respond resiliently to setbacks is essential. A healthy perspective is presented by the following adage: A mistake is just another way of doing things. This statement has been credited …
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Quote Origin: If You Are Curious, You Will Find the Puzzles Around You. If You Are Determined, You Will Solve Them
Erno Rubik? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Hungarian architect Ernő Rubik is famous for creating the ingenious Rubik’s Cube puzzle. Apparently, he said something about finding puzzles all around us. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 2020 Ernő Rubik published a biographical book about his experiences making …
Joke Origin: “This Place Would Be Much Better If We Had Plenty of Water and Good Society” “So Would Hades”
Joke Creator: Benjamin Wade? Charles H. Hoyt? William D. Kelley? Anonymous? Location: Central Pacific Railroad? Great American Desert? Great Plains? Nevada? Wyoming? Nebraska? Montana? North Carolina? Texas? Unknown? Question for Quote Investigator: A traveler who was visiting an arid and desolate place asked a resident for his opinion of the location. The resident was enthusiastic, …
Quote Origin: The Philosophy of Science Is As Useful To Scientists As Ornithology Is To Birds
Richard Feynman? Steven Weinberg? Barnett Newman? John D. Barrow? Philip Kitcher? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The philosophy of science critically examines the foundations and methods of empiricism. Practitioners of science are sometimes indifferent or hostile to this analysis. Apparently, a scientist once presented the following derisive analogy: The philosophy of science is as …
Quote Origin: Aesthetics Is for the Artists Like Ornithology Is for the Birds
Barnett Newman? Frederic James? Ad Reinhardt? Dorothy Gees Seckler? Jonathan Williams? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Art critics and historians have invented and propounded recondite theories of aesthetics. Yet, the motivations and inspirations of influential artists are detached from these abstruse theories. Apparently, a painter once presented the following sardonic analogy: Aesthetics is for the …
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Quote Origin: Death Plucks My Ear and Says “Live, for I Am Coming”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.? Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.? Virgil? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The personification of Death has been employed in artworks to highlight mortality. We must attempt to achieve a full and worthwhile life during our brief period passing through this earthly realm. Here is a pertinent quotation: Death plucks my ear …
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Quote Origin: I Can’t Write a Book Commensurate with Shakespeare, But I Can Write a Book by Me
Sir Walter Raleigh? Walter Alexander Raleigh? Dale Carnegie? Andrew McAleer? Question for Quote Investigator: Creating an artwork or writing a book requires audacity. The existing trove of high-quality art and literature is humbling in its size and magnificence. The newcomer must wonder whether it is possible to equal or surpass previous achievements. Here are two …
Quote Origin: Every Now and Then a Man’s Mind Is Stretched by a New Idea or Sensation, and Never Shrinks Back To Its Former Dimensions
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.? Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.? Albert Einstein? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Question for Quote Investigator: Encountering a novel idea or sensation causes changes that permanently alter one’s intellect. This notion can be expressed as follows: A mind that is stretched by a new idea or experience can never shrink back to its old …
Quote Origin: “How do you go about having good ideas?” “You have a lot of ideas and throw away the bad ones”
Linus Pauling? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: An innovative scientist was once asked about how it was possible to generate worthwhile ideas. He replied approximately as follows: You have a lot of ideas and throw away the bad ones. This remark has been ascribed to Linus Pauling who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in …