William Butler Yeats? John Millington Synge? Oliver Stone? George Bernard Shaw? Mary Higgins Clark? Martha Manning? Paul Greenberg? James Finn Garner? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The painful history of the island of Ireland has produced numerous inhabitants with a melancholy disposition. This notion is reflected in the following humorously inverted saying: Being Irish, …
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Quote Origin: Every Minute You Are Angry, You Lose Sixty Seconds of Happiness
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Mary Pickford? Irving Hoffman? Office Cat? Junius? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A constant stream of social media and news updates is available to each of us. It is easy to seek out material which induces anger, yet the value of continuously inflicting aggravation and anguish upon oneself is unclear. Here are …
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Quote Origin: Be Careful About Reading Medical Books. You May Die of a Misprint
Mark Twain? Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.? Markus Herz? Ernst Freiherr von Feuchtersleben? Walter C. Alvarez? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: All kinds of medical advice is available on the internet. However, the quality is variable, and some of the recommendations are deleterious. A pertinent quip has been circulating for decades. Here are two versions: (1) …
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Quote Origin: Normality is a Well-Paved Street; It Is Good for Walking, But No Flowers Will Grow There
Vincent van Gogh? Sarah Harding? Anonymous? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Conforming to social norms is much easier than following a divergent, colorful, and eccentric pathway through life. This notion has been expressed as follows: Normality is a paved road; it’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it. The famous Dutch painter Vincent …
Quote Origin: From Beasts We Scorn as Soulless, In Forest, Field and Den
M. Frida Hartley? William Ralph Inge? Jan Bryant Bartell? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A verse condemning cruelty toward animals begins with the following two lines: From beasts we scorn as soulless, In forest, field and den This verse has been attributed to British social activist M. Frida Hartley and influential Anglican priest William Inge. …
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Quote Origin: The Creative Adult Is a Child Who Has Survived
Ursula K. Le Guin? Robin W. Winks? Julian F. Fleron? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Critics of childrearing practices complain that the imagination and creativity of children is carelessly discouraged. This notion has been encapsulated with the following adage: The creative adult is a child who has survived. The prominent science fiction and fantasy writer …
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Quote Origin: A House Without Books Is Like a Body Without a Soul
Marcus Tullius Cicero? G. K. Chesterton? Henry Ward Beecher? Mrs. Ashton Yates? John Lubbock? William Forsyth? William Lucas Collins? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The most attractive room in a large house is the library. Here are three versions of a germane adage: (1) A house without books is like a body without a soul. …
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Quote Origin: Everything in the Universe Has a Rhythm. Everything Dances
Maya Angelou? Celia Caroline Cole? Friedrich Nietzsche? George Martin? Michael Frisby? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The Earth has natural rhythms such as the high and low tides of the ocean. The sky also has rhythms such as the oscillating electromagnetic radiation from a pulsar. Here is a saying on this theme: Everything in the …
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Quote Origin: It Is Better To Deserve Honors and Not Have Them Than To Have Them and Not Deserve Them
Mark Twain? Humphry Davy? Robert G. Ingersoll? Cato the Elder? Hugh M‘Neile? Cassius Marcellus Clay? Thomas Fuller? Question for Quote Investigator: A person of great merit may not receive any recognition while an unworthy person may receive numerous accolades. This perverse disconnection has inspired the following ethical stance: It is better to deserve honors and …
Quote Origin: No One Chooses Evil Because It Is Evil; One Only Mistakes It for Happiness, The Good One Seeks
Mary Shelley? Mary Wollstonecraft? Wednesday Addams? Epictetus? George Stanhope? Gustav Friedrich Wiggers? Question for Quote Investigator: Usually, a person does not perform an evil act simply because it is evil. Instead, the motivation is more complex. The person is pursuing their own deeply flawed vision of good. Often, the person is pursuing their own happiness …