Tracing Quotations
Dorothy Parker? Carl L. Becker? Thomas Reed Powell? Charles A. Beard? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous wit Dorothy Parker wrote book reviews containing memorable zingers. When she examined a scientific volume she reportedly wrote the following: This work was written without fear and without research. I have not been able to determine when she …
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Helmuth von Moltke the Elder? Erich von Manstein? Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord? Douglas MacArthur? Frederick the Great? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: In self-help books I have repeatedly seen a two-by-two matrix used to evaluate individuals. The four elements in the matrix were labeled: Brilliant & Lazy, Brilliant & Energetic, Dumb & Lazy, and Dumb & Energetic. …
Continue reading “The Person Who is Clever and Lazy Qualifies for the Highest Leadership Posts”
Neil deGrasse Tyson? Robert Benchley? Kenneth Boulding? Ross F. Papprill? Groucho Marx? Jeremy Bentham? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I enjoy humor based on clever self-referential statements, and a great example is the following: There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who divide everybody into two kinds of people, and those who don’t. …
Marshall McLuhan? Albert Einstein? Clyde Kluckhohn? Pierce Butler? James C. Coleman? John H. Fisher? John Culkin? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Sometimes an individual embedded in a particular culture or environment can become blind to the prevailing norms within his or her domain. I have heard a figurative expression that illustrates this predicament. Here are three …
Continue reading “We Don’t Know Who Discovered Water, But We Know It Wasn’t a Fish”
John A. Shedd? Grace Hopper? Albert Einstein? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: On December 9, 2013 the Google Doodle honored the pioneering computer scientist and U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. Here are two versions of a quotation that is often attributed to her: A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what …
Continue reading “A Ship in Harbor Is Safe, But that Is Not What Ships Are Built For”
Niels Bohr? Samuel Goldwyn? K. K. Steincke? Robert Storm Petersen? Yogi Berra? Mark Twain? Nostradamus? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a family of popular humorous sayings about the formidable task of successful prognostication. Here are five examples: It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. Predictions are hazardous, especially about the future. …
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Ayn Rand? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The Newsfeed section of the Time magazine website recently wrote about a successful fashion retailer which was selling a shirt called an “Unstoppable Muscle Tee” that displayed a quotation attributed to a top-selling author and controversial philosopher: “The question isn’t who is going to let me, it’s who is …
Continue reading “The Question Isn’t Who Is Going to Let Me, It’s Who Is Going to Stop Me”
Albert Einstein? Charles Darwin? Maurice Maeterlinck? E. O. Wilson? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A dramatic quotation about the dangers of environmental upheaval is attributed to the brilliant physicist Albert Einstein. Here are two versions: If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No …
Mary Schmich? Eleanor Roosevelt? Kurt Vonnegut? Baz Luhrmann? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Jane Addams? Mark Toby? Dear Quote Investigator: To achieve personal growth it is sometimes necessary to move outside of a comfort zone. Unjustified fears can constrain exploration and positive development. Here is a saying I find valuable: Do one thing every day that scares …
Thomas Edison? David Sarnoff? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: I saw the following quotation on the website of a medical school with a strong history of innovation: There’s a way to do it better — find it. The words were attributed to the inventor and research laboratory pioneer Thomas A. Edison. I also saw an advertisement …