Albert Einstein? Truman Twill? Lyndon B. Johnson? Laurence J. Peter? Paul A. Freund? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Many sayings attributed to the scientific genius Albert Einstein concern the mind. Here is a funny example: If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign? I …
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A Cluttered Desk Produces a Cluttered Mind
J. K. Turner? Newton A. Fuessle? Edward Earle Purinton? William C. McCraw? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Office workers whose desks are covered with a jumble of papers are criticized with the following adage. Here are three versions: A cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind. A messy desk is evidence of a messy …
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If I Could Remember the Names of These Particles, I Would Have Been a Botanist
Albert Einstein? Enrico Fermi? Leon M. Lederman? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: During the twentieth century the field of physics advanced astonishingly quickly. Researchers discovered a large number of elementary particles. A prominent physicist quipped: If I could remember the names of all those particles, I’d be a botanist. Did Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, or somebody …
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Creativity Is Contagious. Pass It On
Albert Einstein? Bernice Bede Osol? Eugene Raudsepp? François de La Rochefoucauld? Dale Carnegie? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following words are often credited to the scientific genius Albert Einstein: Creativity is contagious. Pass it on. I cannot find a good citation. What do you think? Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence that Einstein wrote …
Quote Origin: Insanity Is Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results
Albert Einstein? Al-Anon? Narcotics Anonymous? Max Nordau? George Bernard Shaw? Samuel Beckett? George A. Kelly? Rita Mae Brown? John Larroquette? Jessie Potter? Werner Erhard? Question for Quote Investigator: It’s foolish to repeat ineffective actions. One popular formulation presents this point harshly: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and …
Creativity Is Intelligence Having Fun
Albert Einstein? George Scialabba? Joey Reiman? John C. Maxwell? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: An invigorating comment about creativity is often credited to the universally recognized scientific genius Albert Einstein: Creativity is intelligence having fun. Are these really the words of Einstein? Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence that Einstein who died in 1955 made …
Men Marry Women with the Hope They Will Never Change. Women Marry Men with the Hope They Will Change
Albert Einstein? H. M. Harwood? R. Gore-Browne? John Conwell? Estelle Getty? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Did Albert Einstein’s genius extend from physics to psychology? The following remark has been ascribed to him: Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are both …
I Am Only a Public Entertainer Who Has Understood His Times
Pablo Picasso? Giovanni Papini? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Pablo Picasso reportedly admitted in a “Confession” that he did not consider himself a great artist; instead, he was an entertainer who shocked and amused the rich and indolent to gain fame and wealth. Did Picasso really say this? Quote Investigator: No. The well-known “Confession” was invented …
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Education Is Not the Learning of Facts, But the Training of the Mind To Think
Albert Einstein? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A learner may accumulate a large number of miscellaneous pieces of information without achieving an integrated understanding and without acquiring an ability to use the material intelligently. Reportedly, Albert Einstein made a germane remark: Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of minds to think. …
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If You Think Education Is Expensive, Try Ignorance
Derek Bok? Ann Landers? Char Meyers? Robert Orben? John Lubbock? P. B. de La Bruère? Rev. S. C. Morris? Charles Duncan Mclver? Albert Einstein? Barack Obama? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The cost of attending college has been increasing more rapidly than the rate of inflation for decades in the U.S. Students and parents have been …
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