Quote Investigator® – Page 38

Quote Origin: 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.
(2) Becoming is more important than being.

This saying has been attributed to prominent U.S. psychologist Carol Dweck, renowned German artist Paul Klee, influential Scottish physician Thomas Oliver, and others. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: This notion has roots in ancient spiritual and philosophical traditions. But this article is focused on tracing closely matching statements.

The earliest instance located by QI appeared in a December 1913 address delivered by Professor of Medicine Sir Thomas Oliver before the Insurance Institute of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

The successful man admits that there is more pleasure in work than in having secured the rewards of it—that becoming is better than being—since possibility marks the one and finality seals the other.

QI tentatively credits Oliver with this expression although he may have been repeating a saying that he had heard previously.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

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 only weapon in the war against reality.
(2) In the war against reality, humanity has but one weapon—Imagination.

This remark has been attributed to the popular children’s author Lewis Carroll, the well-known fantasy author C. S. Lewis, the French philosopher Jules de Gaultier, and the essayist Benjamin de Casseres. Who is the genuine originator of this expression? Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1916 Benjamin de Casseres published an essay about the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in “The Poetry Journal”. De Casseres employed a version of the saying while describing the works of Shelley, but he did not attribute the comment to the poet. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

In the sublime war of man against Reality man has but one weapon, the imagination. The ethereal imagination is the highest form of the evolution of the transfiguring and sublimating power of images. It marks the boundary line between the mystery of matter and the mystery of spirit. It is the fine volatilized plasma of an esoteric dimension, of a world where the truths hinted at by the x-ray and radium are true for the human mind and body.

Based on current evidence QI believes that Benjamin de Casseres deserves credit for the quotation under examination. Jules de Gaultier improbably received credit in 1935 after the saying had been circulating for nearly two decades. Lewis Carroll and C. S. Lewis implausibly received credit in the 21st century.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: 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 the Galaxy” created by Douglas Adams. The fourth episode recounted a tale about the answer to humanity’s ultimate existential question.

Millions of years ago a race of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings decided to build a computer called Deep Thought to solve the problem of Life, the Universe and Everything. After the computer was finally built and the question was posed, the response was displeasing. Deep Thought stated that it would require an additional seven and a half million years to arrive at an answer.

After this long waiting period elapsed, a magnificent ceremony took place, and the pan-dimensional beings waited expectantly for an answer. The speakers identified as One, Two, and Three are computer attendants. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

DEEP THOUGHT: All right. The Answer to Everything …
TWO: Yes … !
DEEP THOUGHT: Life, The Universe and Everything …
ONE: Yes … !
DEEP THOUGHT: Is …
THREE: Yes … !
DEEP THOUGHT: IS …
ONE/TWO: Yes … !!!
DEEP THOUGHT: Forty two.
(Pause. Actually quite a long one)
TWO: We’re going to get lynched, you know that.
DEEP THOUGHT: It was a tough assignment.

Deep Thought indicated that simply knowing the Answer was not enough. The next task was to build an even larger computer with an organic component to determine the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything. Deep Thought said it would design the new computer, and it would be called Earth.

Below are three additional selected citations and a conclusion.

Quote Origin: 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 noteworthy U.S. lexicographer Noah Webster, and the popular motivational author Orison Swett Marden. Would you please help me to determine the originator together with a citation for the precise phrasing?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1750 Samuel Johnson wrote a piece in the London periodical “The Rambler” in which he discussed the philosophy of Stoicism:¹

That man should never suffer his happiness to depend upon external circumstances, is one of the chief precepts of the Stoical philosophy. . .

Johnson discussed a poet who fantasized about traveling to America to attain a life of leisure and retreat. Yet, Johnson believed that the cause of the poet’s unhappiness was internal and achieving contentment required a mental shift. The word “trial” was spelled “tryal”. Boldface added to excepts by QI:²

He would, upon the tryal, have been soon convinced, that the fountain of content must spring up in the mind; and that he who has so little knowledge of human nature, as to seek happiness by changing any thing but his own dispositions, will waste his life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the griefs which he purposes to remove.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: 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 metaphorical adage says this is foolish behavior. Here are four versions:

(1) Don’t pull your flowers and water your weeds.
(2) You shouldn’t cut your flowers and water your weeds.
(3) Be careful you don’t pick your flowers and water your weeds.
(4) Don’t garden by digging up the flowers and watering the weeds.

This saying has been attributed to super-investor Warren Buffett and successful fund manager Peter Lynch. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1989 Peter Lynch with John Rothchild published “One Up On Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market”. The book warned against flawed investment strategies. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Some people automatically sell the “winners”—stocks that go up—and hold on to their “losers”—stocks that go down—which is about as sensible as pulling out the flowers and watering the weeds. Others automatically sell their losers and hold on to their winners, which doesn’t work out much better. Both strategies fail because they’re tied to the current movement of the stock price as an indicator of the company’s fundamental value.

QI believes that the modern versions of this adage evolved from Lynch’s statement.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: You Can Always Tell a Harvard / Yale Student, But You Can’t Tell Them Much

William Howard Taft? Arthur Twining Hadley? Zora Neale Hurston? James Barnes? Wigg? Wagg? LeBaron Russell Briggs? Joseph Choate? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: The rivalry between the universities Yale and Harvard exists in the domain of quips. The following jests use wordplay based on two different meanings of “tell”:

(1) You always can tell a Harvard man, but you can’t tell him much.
(2) It’s easy enough to tell a Yale man, but you can’t tell him much.

Can you determine the original target of this barb? Would you please explore this family of jibes?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match for this joke template located by QI appeared in December 1886 within the “Democrat and Chronicle” of Rochester, New York which acknowledged a Somerville, Massachusetts newspaper. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

“You can always tell a man who has once been a clerk in a hotel,” says an exchange. Our experience has always been that you can’t tell him much. He thinks he knows it all.—Somerville Journal.

Thus, the first target of this barb was a hotel clerk and not a college student. During the ensuing decades the template was filled with a wide variety of entities. By 1895 the quip was aimed at the “Yale man”, and by 1906 the “Harvard man” was criticized.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: When You’ve Exhausted All Possibilities, Remember This: You Haven’t!

Thomas Edison? Robert H. Schuller? Helen Peikin? Leslie Hanscom? Dale Carnegie? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: After exploring a series of ineffective solutions to a problem it is natural to give up hope. Yet, a popular motivational saying suggests that perseverance will be rewarded:

When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: You haven’t.

This statement has been attributed to the famous inventor Thomas Edison and the prominent televangelist Robert H. Schuller. I am skeptical of the connection to Edison. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has found no substantive support for the ascription to Thomas Edison. He received credit in 2000, but he died many years earlier in 1931.

In 1981 columnist Helen Peikin of the “Sentinel Star” of Orlando, Florida printed the following as an epigraph of an article. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this . . . you haven’t.
—DR. ROBERT SHULER

QI conjectures that Peikin misspelled “Schuller” as “Shuler”. Pastor Robert Schuller probably used the expression during a sermon in 1981 or earlier. In 1983 Schuller authored the bestseller “Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do!”. An entire page of the book was dedicated to displaying the statement:²

When you’ve exhausted all possibilities, remember this: You haven’t!

Robert Schuller used this saying on multiple occasions, and he did not credit anyone else. Thus, based on current evidence QI believes that Schuller deserves credit for this statement.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: There Is No There There

Gertrude Stein? Herb Caen? Ben J. Wattenberg? William Gibson? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent literary figure attempted to return home after a long absence and found that the location was unfamiliar because the home had been demolished. Fond memories of youth were no longer attached to a physical location. The feeling of disconnection inspired a popular saying:

There is no there there.

Nowadays, the meaning of this phrase has shifted. The statement typically refers to something which is diffuse, unsubstantial, or unimportant. It has also been used to explicate virtual reality. Would you please help me to find a citation.

Reply from Quote Investigator: Author and art connoisseur Gertrude Stein employed an idiosyncratic writing style. Her infrequently punctuated stream of consciousness was sometimes difficult to parse. Her 1937 book “Everybody’s Autobiography” included a passage about traveling to the locale of her childhood:¹

. . . we went across the bay on a ferry, that had not changed but Goat Island might just as well not have been there, anyway what was the use of my having come from Oakland it was not natural to have come from there yes write about it if I like or anything if I like but not there, there is no there there.

Stein described the feelings of estrangement produced by the visit to her former neighborhood:²

Ah Thirteenth Avenue was the same it was shabby and over-grown the houses were certainly some of them those that had been and there were not bigger buildings and they were neglected and, lots of grass and bushes growing yes it might have been the Thirteenth Avenue when I had been.

Not of course the house, the house the big house and the big garden and the eucalyptus trees and the rose hedge naturally were not any longer existing, what was the use, if I had been I then my little dog would know me but if I had not been I then that place would not be the place that I could see, I did not like the feeling . . .

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: The Optimum Population of the World Should Be About One Hundred Thousand

Arthur C. Clarke? Fred Hoyle? Georg Borgstrom? Donald W. Mann? Gretchen C. Daily? Anne H. Ehrlich? Paul Ehrlich? Kenneth Smail?

Question for Quote Investigator: The world population is projected to exceed 8 billion in 2022. Also, the United Nations Population Division forecasts that before 2100 the population will exceed 10 billion. Interestingly, some countries currently have declining populations.

One prominent person suggested that the optimum human population should be dramatically smaller—only one hundred thousand. This notion has been attributed to science fiction luminary Arthur C. Clarke and prominent English astronomer Fred Hoyle. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In April 1968 Arthur C. Clarke published an essay titled “Next: On Earth, the Good Life?” in “Vogue” magazine. Clarke credited Fred Hoyle with suggesting that the ideal number of Earth inhabitants was relatively small. Boldface added to excepts by QI:¹

There is no doubt that, with proper organization, our planet could support a population of many billions at a much higher standard of living than today. But should it? In a world of instantaneous communication and swift transport, where all men are virtually neighbours, is there any point in a population of more than a few millions? The answer to this question depends upon one’s philosophical and religious views concerning the purpose of life.

Fred Hoyle, for example, once suggested to me that the optimum population of the world should be about one hundred thousand—as that was the maximum number of people one could get to know in a lifetime.

Intriguingly, this low number was not due to fears of environmental impact; instead, Hoyle’s number was based on the limits of interpersonal relationships.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: By Invading the Territories of Art, Photography Has Become Art’s Most Mortal Enemy

Charles Baudelaire? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Technophiles have welcomed recent advances in artificial intelligence in the domain of art. Yet, many artists and connoisseurs have been unsettled or openly hostile.

One commentator attempted to provide historical perspective by claiming that the famous French poet and art critic Charles Baudelaire denounced the emerging technology of photography. Baudelaire said that photography had become “art’s most mortal enemy”.

Is this quotation genuine? Would you please help me to find a citation for the original statement in French?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1859 “Revue Française” of Paris published a letter from Charles Baudelaire under the title “Le Public Moderne et la Photographie” (“The Modern Public and Photography”). Below is an English translation of the pertinent passage followed by the original French. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

As the photographic industry was the refuge of all failed painters, too ill-equipped or too lazy to complete their studies, this universal infatuation bore not only the character of blindness and imbecility, but also the color of vengeance. That such a brainless conspiracy, in which one finds, as in all the others, the wicked and the dupes, can achieve absolute success, I do not believe it, or at least I do not want to believe it; but I am convinced that the ill-applied advancements of photography have greatly contributed, like all purely material progress, to the impoverishment of French artistic genius, which is already so rare.

Modern Fatuity may well roar, belch out all the rumblings of its rotund stomach, spew out all the indigestible sophisms with which a recent philosophy has stuffed it. Nevertheless, it is obvious that this industry, by invading the territories of art, has become art’s most mortal enemy, and that the confusion of functions prevents any from being well fulfilled. Poetry and progress are two ambitious people who hate each other instinctively, and when they meet on the same path, one of them must serve the other. If photography is allowed to supplement art in some of its functions, it will soon have supplanted or corrupted it altogether, thanks to the natural alliance it will find in the stupidity of the multitude.

Below is the original French followed by additional citations.