Quote Origin: Every New Idea Is Just a Mashup or a Remix of One or More Previous Ideas

Austin Kleon? T. S. Eliot? C. E. M. Joad? Ecclesiastes? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The recent creation of artificial intelligence systems that generate text, images, and videos has caused ferocious controversy and motivated several copyright lawsuits. The current generation of popular AI systems are trained using billions of webpages and billions of images. The …

Quote Origin: It Is Difficult to Get a Man to Understand Something When His Salary Depends Upon His Not Understanding It

Upton Sinclair? H. L. Mencken? William Jennings Bryan? C. E. M. Joad? Christopher Matthews? Paul Krugman? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Financial incentives can compromise the critical faculties of an individual. Here are four versions of this insight: I think either muckraker Upton Sinclair or curmudgeon H. L. Mencken employed this expression. Would you please …

Quote Origin: We Are Taught To Fly in the Air Like Birds, and To Swim in the Water Like the Fishes; But How To Live on the Earth We Don’t Know

George Bernard Shaw? Martin Luther King? Maxim Gorky? Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan? C. E. M. Joad? Walter Winchell? Jack Paar? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Technological progress today is shockingly vertiginous, but advancements toward human reconciliation and harmony are glacially slow. A saying from the previous century treats this topic with poignancy: Now that we have learned …

Quote Origin: The Secret to Creativity Is Knowing How to Hide Your Sources

Albert Einstein? C. E. M. Joad? Nolan Bushnell? Coco Chanel? Conan O’Brien? Franklin P. Jones? Charles Moore? Bruce Sterling? Joe Sedelmaier? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I have a difficult challenge for you. Here are three versions of a popular maxim: 1) The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. 2) Creativity …