All of Us Are Creatures of a Day; the Rememberer and the Remembered Alike

Marcus Aurelius? Irvin D. Yalom? George Long? John Jackson? Martin Hammond? Ivar Lissner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The book “Creatures of a Day: And Other Tales of Psychotherapy” by U.S. psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom begins with the following passage attributed to Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius in “The Meditations”:[1] 2015, Creatures of …

A Sense of Humor Is Just Common Sense Dancing

William James? Clive James? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A thoughtful person constructed the following vivid metaphor: A sense of humor is just common sense dancing. The U.S. philosopher William James and the Australian critic Clive James have both received credit for this statement. I am uncertain of these ascriptions because I have not seen …

I Think Everybody Should Get Rich and Famous So They Can See That That’s Not the Answer

Jim Carrey? Jay Stone? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous movie star once said that everyone should experience becoming rich and famous because it would be clear that wealth and fame are not the answer to life’s conundrums. Would you please explore this topic? Reply from Quote Investigator: In December 2005 Canadian actor and …

To Understand a Person You Have To Know What Was Happening in the World When That Person Was Twenty

Napoleon Bonaparte? G. M. Young? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The years of early adulthood are crucial to the formation of an entire outlook toward life. You have to know what was happening in the world when a person was twenty to understand that person. This notion has been ascribed to the French military leader …

When Everybody Thinks Alike, Nobody Will Think At All

George Patton? Benjamin Franklin? Walter Lippmann? John F. Kennedy? Sue Myrick? Edward Krehbiel? Jonathan P. Dolliver? Humphrey B. Neill? Eric Schmidt? Porter B. Williamson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Conformity is a powerful force that narrows the thought patterns of groups and individuals. Here are three selections from a family of pertinent sayings: (1) Where …

Becoming Is Better Than Being

Carol Dweck? Paul Klee? Thomas Oliver? Martin Heidegger? Victor Branford? Sarah Frances Brown? Charles Hartshorne? Alfred North Whitehead? Question for Quote Investigator: When you are living a full life you are always changing and growing. You are not inert or stagnant. Here are two versions of a pertinent adage: (1) Becoming is better than being. …

Quote Origin: In the Sublime War of Humanity Against Reality, Humanity Has But One Weapon, The Imagination

Lewis Carroll? Cheshire Cat? C. S. Lewis? Jules de Gaultier? Benjamin de Casseres? Percy Bysshe Shelley? Herbert Kaufman? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Reality can be cold and disheartening. Yet, humans have the extraordinary facility to imagine a different and more entertaining universe. Here are two versions of a pertinent saying: (1) Imagination is the …

The Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything Is Forty-Two

Douglas Adams? Deep Thought? Geoffrey Hinton? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The number forty-two is sometimes presented as the answer to life’s deepest question. Where did this answer originate? Who suggested this eccentric and opaque answer? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1978 BBC Radio 4 broadcast the science fiction comedy series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to …

To Seek Happiness by Changing Anything But One’s Own Disposition Will Waste Life in Fruitless Efforts

Samuel Johnson? Noah Webster? Orison Swett Marden? Charles Caleb Colton? Tryon Edwards? Question for Quote Investigator: If one’s contentment depends upon external forces and events that one cannot control then one should expect continual heartache. Seeking happiness requires changing one’s own dispositions. This notion has been attributed to the famous English lexicographer Samuel Johnson, the …

Don’t Cut Your Flowers and Water Your Weeds

Warren Buffett? Peter Lynch? Allan R. Stuart? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: When a stock in your portfolio goes up it is tempting to sell it and lock in profits. Also, when a stock is languishing it is natural to hold on to it with the hope that someday it will ascend. However, a vivid …