Tracing Quotations
Abraham Lincoln? James Russell Lowell? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Intelligent and thoughtful people maintain mental flexibility throughout life. It is irrational to rigidly adhere to a fixed opinion in the face of reliable contrary information. Abraham Lincoln supposedly said: The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions. These words have also been credited …
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Abraham Lincoln? Thomas Carlyle? Robert G. Ingersoll? Horatio Alger Jr.? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: I saw the following quotation on the website of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum: Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. Lincoln was credited, but I have seen …
Abraham Lincoln? John W. Hulbert? Pious Clergyman? George Bradburn? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a famous riddle about the difference between a supposition and a fact: How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg. There are different …
Continue reading “Suppose You Call a Sheep’s Tail a Leg, How Many Legs Will the Sheep Have?”
Abraham Lincoln? Traveler? John Randolph of Roanoke? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: According to legend when Abraham Lincoln was served a cup of unpalatable brew he made the following hilarious remark: If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee. I have not been able to …
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Abraham Lincoln? Artemus Ward? George Bernard Shaw? Max Beerbohm? Muriel Spark? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular anecdote asserts that Abraham Lincoln was obliged to listen to a prolix lecture about spiritualism by an enthusiastic friend. After the discourse was complete, Lincoln’s opinion was sought, and he replied with a humorously redundant non-committal statement designed to …
Continue reading “People Who Like This Sort of Thing Will Find This the Sort of Thing They Like”
Abraham Lincoln? William Makepeace Thackeray? Laurence Hutton? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Selecting a profession can be quite difficult, and changing your initial choice may be necessary. Yet, you should always strive for excellence. The following inspirational words are heartening: Whatever you are, be a good one. The phrase is usually attributed to Abraham …
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Winston Churchill? Abraham Lincoln? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Winston Churchill once famously exhorted an audience to “never give in”. There is another saying attributed to him about perseverance. Here are three versions: 1) Success is the ability to move from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm. 2) Success is going from failure …
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Abraham Lincoln? W. H. Alexander? Wood Cutter? Lumberjack? Woodsman? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Rigorous preparation is the key to success for many endeavors. There is a popular saying attributed to Abraham Lincoln about planning and executing tasks. Here are three versions: If I had four hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the …
Woodrow Wilson? Abraham Lincoln? Rufus Choate? Thomas B. Macaulay? William Howard Taft? Mark Twain? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A biography of President Woodrow Wilson included an entertaining quotation about the preparation time needed for speeches of varying lengths. Here is an excerpt from the book:[ref] 1946, The Wilson Era: Years of War and After 1917-1923 …
Ulysses S. Grant? Abraham Lincoln? W. S. Gilbert? William Tecumseh Sherman? Victor Borge? Richie Havens? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The holiday season is filled with singing, but my talent in this domain can be accurately summarized with the following quotation: I know only two tunes: one of them is “Yankee Doodle,” and the other isn’t. …
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