Tracing Quotations
Sydney Smith? Punch? Evan Esar? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A disagreement between two people is sometimes caused by a difference in underlying assumptions. Two individuals arguing from different premises are likely to reach different conclusions. This notion can be comically transformed via a pun on the word “premises” which can mean “assumptions” or “residences”. The …
Continue reading “They Will Never Agree. They Argue from Different Premises”
Andrew Ng? Nick Bostrom? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A top artificial intelligence (AI) researcher was asked whether he feared the possibility of malevolent superintelligent robots wreaking havoc in the near future, and he answered “No”. He illustrated his answer with the following analogy. Worrying about human overpopulation on Mars is fruitless. It is a distant and …
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Tryon Edwards? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: During one’s lifetime one may discover a truth that appears deep and beautiful. Yet, one must be willing to continuously grow and change. That supposed truth may later seem trivial or misleading. Personal development demands regular reevaluations. The transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson made a similar …
Continue reading “No Truth So Sublime But It May Be Trivial Tomorrow in the Light of New Thoughts”
Douglas Adams? Donald A. Adams? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular business adage states that providing real service to a customer requires a crucial added ingredient known as sincerity and integrity. This notion has confusingly been credited to two different people: Douglas Adams and Donald A. Adams. The first was a science fiction humorist who …
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Heinrich Heine? Claude Debussy? Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky? Richard Wagner? Leonora Schmitz? Henry R. Cleveland? Jean Sibelius? John S. Dwight? Ludwig van Beethoven? Anton Rubinstein? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The expressiveness of words is paltry in the domain of deeply felt emotions and sensations. Yet, music can resonate with these profound feelings. Here are two versions …
Heinrich Heine? Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular adage comments on the comparative expressiveness of words versus music. Here are two versions: Where words leave off, music begins Music begins where the spoken word ends Many people have been credited with this saying including the famous German poet and critic Heinrich Heine. …
Richard Wagner? Henry Russell Cleveland? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Music can express thoughts and emotions which cannot be captured by words alone according to some romantic souls. Here are two versions of this sentiment: Where all words end, music begins Music begins where language ends Many people have been credited with this adage including the …
Continue reading “Where the Speech of Man Stops Short There Music’s Reign Begins”
C. P. Scott? Kenneth Adam? Bernard Levin? Harvey W. Wiley? Ivor Brown? H. L. Mencken? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: While reading a book about woefully inaccurate predictions I came across a humorously incongruous statement about a wildly successful gadget: Television? The word is half Greek, half Latin. No good can come of it. British journalist …
Albert King? Booker T. Jones? William Bell? Dick Gregory? E. K. Means? Sidney Sutherland? Sidney Skolsky? Bill Brisson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular blues song from the 1960s contains the following memorable lament: If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all. How old is this mordant quip? Would you …
Continue reading “If It Wasn’t for Bad Luck I Wouldn’t Have Any Luck At All”
Abe Martin? Kin Hubbard? H. L. Mencken? Jim Courier? George Young? Gary Shelton? Mike Lupica? Dale Bumpers? Shannon Sharpe? Dear Quote Investigator: Contract negotiations are tough, and disputes usually involve money. Yet, participants sometimes highlight other issues as paramount. Jaded observers have crafted the following dictum: When they say it’s not about the money. Just …
Continue reading “When They Say It’s Not About Money, It’s About Money”