Tracing Quotations
Benjamin Franklin? Confucius? Xunzi? Hsüntze? Native American Saying? Shuo Yuan? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following tripartite expression encapsulates an influential approach to education: Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn. The U.S. statesman Benjamin Franklin and the Chinese philosopher Confucius have both received credit for these …
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Benjamin Franklin? H. K. Williams? James H. Hope? E. B. Gregory? Dalton E. Brady? Robert H. Schuller? John Wooden? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Proper planning is fundamental to success. Benjamin Franklin has been credited with an admonitory aphorism. Here are three versions using “plan” and “prepare”: Failing to plan is planning to fail. The person …
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Roger Branigin? Mark Twain? Charles Brownson? Irving Leibowitz? William I. Greener Jr.? H. L. Mencken? Benjamin Franklin? Dear Quote Investigator: If a newspaper editor or publisher dislikes a viewpoint you are advocating then you may have to endure a long series of negative articles. The following three statements express this notion: Never argue with a …
Continue reading “I Never Argue with a Man Who Buys Ink by the Barrel”
Benjamin Franklin? Theodore Edward Hook? Maria Edgeworth? Arthur Wellesley? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The statesman Benjamin Franklin is often credited with the following aphorism. Here are two versions: A person good at making excuses is seldom good for anything else. A man who is good at making excuses is good for nothing else. I have …
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Benjamin Franklin? George Savile? Apocryphal? Anonymous Dear Quote Investigator: A popular technique in rhetoric consists of repeating a clause while permuting the words. For example: Money will do everything for you. You will do everything for money. Apparently, statesman Benjamin Franklin contended that a belief in the first clause led individuals to follow the guidance …
Lucille Ball? Benjamin Franklin? Elbert Hubbard? W. J. Kennedy? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular proverb suggests that when you are faced with a large task you should call upon someone with an ongoing track record of accomplishment. Here are three versions: If you want something done, ask a busy person. If you want anything …
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Benjamin Franklin? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Recently, I came across an insightful saying about psychology: Three of the hardest entities are steel, a diamond, and self-knowledge. Would you please help me to determine the originator? Quote Investigator: In 1750 statesman Benjamin Franklin included an instance in “Poor Richard’s Almanack”. The word “extremely” was spelled “extreamly”. …
Continue reading “There Are Three Things Extreamly Hard, Steel, a Diamond and To Know One’s Self”
William Butler Yeats? William B. Sprague? Benjamin Franklin? Richard Sharp? Charles Lamb? Charles Caleb Colton? Oliver Cromwell? Peleg Sprague? Ernest Hemingway? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular proverb highlights the limited duration of an opportunity: Strike while the iron is hot. This metaphor has been astutely extended with advice for greater challenges: Make the iron …
Continue reading “Do Not Wait To Strike Till the Iron Is Hot; But Make It Hot By Striking”
Lord Chesterfield? Hilaire Belloc? D. H. Lawrence? George Bernard Shaw? Alexander Duffield? W. Somerset Maugham? Elliot Paul? Samuel Hopkins Adams? Benjamin Franklin? P. D. James? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Lord Chesterfield reportedly crafted an outrageously humorous description of intimate relations. I’ve seen different versions that each comment on pleasure, position, and expense. Yet, I …
Continue reading “The Pleasure Is Momentary, the Position Is Ridiculous, the Expense Is Damnable”
Benjamin Franklin? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The renowned statesman and scientist Benjamin Franklin has been credited with two variant statements about alcohol: 1) Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. 2) Wine is constant proof that God loves us and likes to see us happy. I am skeptical because …
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