Tracing Quotations
Anatole France? Bertrand Russell? W. Somerset Maugham? Oliver Goldsmith? J. A. Schmit? Laurence J. Peter? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Fifty million people may parrot a false or foolish statement, but that will not metamorphose it into a true or sensible remark. Here are two instances in this family of statements: If fifty million people say …
Continue reading “If Fifty Million People Say a Foolish Thing, It Is Still a Foolish Thing”
Anatole France? François Rabelais? Michel de Montaigne? Lewis Piaget Shanks? Will Durant? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The French Nobel laureate Anatole France was skeptical of martyrdom. Here are three versions of a statement attributed to him: To die for an idea is to set a pretty high value on conjectures. To die for an idea …
Continue reading “To Die for an Idea Is To Place a Very High Price Upon Conjecture”
Anatole France? George Pólya? George B. Hartzog Jr.? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Educators are tempted to cover numerous topics and present a farrago of facts, but this superfluity discourages many learners. A small number of well-chosen topics and pertinent examples can activate curiosity. The Nobel-Prize winner Anatole France has been credited with the following astute …
Continue reading “Awaken People’s Curiosity. It Is Enough To Open Minds; Do Not Overload Them”
George Bernard Shaw and Isadora Duncan? Anatole France and Isadora Duncan? Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe? Albert Einstein and a chorus girl? George Bernard Shaw and a strange lady in Zurich? Dear Quote Investigator: Reportedly there was famous exchange between the prominent playwright George Bernard Shaw and the glamorous dancer Isadora Duncan on the topic …
Continue reading “But Suppose the Child Inherited My Beauty and Your Brains?”