Lady Bird Johnson? Claudia Alta Johnson? Jill Biden? Henry Seldis? Question for Quote Investigator: A First Lady of the United States once spoke about the importance of experiencing great art. She said that art was the window of person’s soul. Art was required to see beyond the immediate everyday world and to see the inner …
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Quote Origin: As Soon As It Works, No One Calls It AI Anymore
John McCarthy? Pamela McCorduck? Bertram Raphael? Donald Michie? Melanie Mitchell? Bertrand Meyer? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) researchers tackled a variety of challenging problems. One early goal was the development of symbolic mathematics systems capable of performing polynomial factorization, integration, and differentiation. Researchers made such great progress that this field was …
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Quote Origin: People More Frequently Require To Be Reminded Than Informed
Samuel Johnson? C. S. Lewis? Peggy Noonan? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: People often know what they should be doing. A didactic lecture is not required. Instead, a simple reminder is adequate to inspire appropriate action. Here are four examples from a family of pertinent sayings: (1) Men more frequently require to be reminded than …
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Quote Origin: Trust Everybody, But Cut the Cards
Finley Peter Dunne? Martin Dooley? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: One should be generous when conveying trust, but one should not be gullible or naïve. One must take precautions and defend oneself. An adage from the domain of card games presents this viewpoint: Trust everybody, but cut the cards. This notion has been attributed to …
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Quote Origin: What I Learned, I No Longer Know. What Little I Still Know, I Have Guessed
Nicolas Chamfort? Charles de Talleyrand? Catherine Gore? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A student is taught numerous topics during a formal education, yet most details are swiftly forgotten once schooling is completed. A wit composed the following candid remark: All that I’ve learned, I’ve forgotten. The little that I still know, I’ve guessed. This saying …
Quote Origin: Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated
Mark Twain? Frank Marshall White? Albert Bigelow Paine? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous anecdote about the humorist Mark Twain occurred when he was an elderly gentleman. A prominent newspaper reported that Twain was either gravely ill or dead. Journalists rushed to learn more about the story, and they found that Twain was still …
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Joke Origin: “Give Me a Cup of Coffee Without Cream” “You’ll Have To Take It Without Milk. We Haven’t Any Cream”
Jean-Paul Sartre? George Carlin? Slavoj Žižek? O. O. McIntyre? Sewell Ford? Billy Wilder? Leo Rosten? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Philosophers, linguists, and humorists enjoy the following joke about tacit knowledge: A person enters a café and requests coffee without cream. After a delay the waiter returns and says “I’m sorry. We’re out of cream. …
Quote Origin: The Soul Is Healed By Being With Children
Fyodor Dostoevsky? Prince Myshkin? Constance Garnett? Henry Carlisle? Olga Carlisle? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A major literary figure once wrote about the connection between children and spiritual health. Here are two versions: (1) The soul is healed by being with children.(2) Through children the soul is healed. This remark has been attributed to the …
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Quote Origin: The Only Traditions of the Royal Navy Are Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash
Winston Churchill? Harold Nicolson? Paddy Leigh Fermor? Anthony Montague Browne? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: According to legend a British statesman was once criticized for disregarding naval tradition. The statesman responded with the following zinger: The only traditions of the Royal Navy are rum, sodomy, and the lash. This line has been attributed to Winston …
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Quip Origin: If God Had Intended That People Should Go Naked, We Would Have Been Born That Way
Walt Willis? Zorima? Raymond Duncan’s Wife? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The “appeal to nature” argument asserts that something which is natural is good, and something which is unnatural is bad. This style of reasoning has produced the following entertaining statements: (1) If God wanted us to wear clothes, we would have been born that …