Quip Origin: It’s Not the Fall That Hurts You; It’s the Sudden Stop at the End

Douglas Adams? Spike Milligan? Terry Pratchett? Charlie Bates? Harry Harrison? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Prominent humorists have been credited with statements from the following family of jokes about collisions. Here are three examples: (1) Falling doesn’t hurt you; it’s the sudden stop at the end.(2) It isn’t the speed that kills people; it’s the …

Quote Origin: All of Bach, Streamed Out Into Space, Over and Over Again. We Would Be Bragging

Carl Sagan? Lewis Thomas? Douglas Adams? Stephen Fry? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Suppose humanity decided to deliberately send a message out into space. What should be included in that message which might someday be read by a hypothetical alien civilization?   In fact, the U.S. launched two robotic interstellar probes in 1977, Voyager 1 …

Quote Origin: You Don’t Have To Be Crazy To Work Here, But It Helps

Walt Disney? Carolyn Kay Shafer? Douglas Adams? John Lloyd? Adam Breede? Ralph Spence? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I first encountered the following quip many years ago. Here are two versions: (1) You don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps.(2) You don’t have to be mad to work here, but it …

Quote Origin: The Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything Is Forty-Two

Douglas Adams? Deep Thought? Geoffrey Hinton? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The number forty-two is sometimes presented as the answer to life’s deepest question. Where did this answer originate? Who suggested this eccentric and opaque answer? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1978 BBC Radio 4 broadcast the science fiction comedy series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to …

Quote Origin: To Give Real Service You Must Add Something — Sincerity and Integrity

Douglas Adams? Donald A. Adams? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular business adage states that providing real service to a customer requires a crucial added ingredient known as sincerity and integrity. This notion has confusingly been credited to two different people: Douglas Adams and Donald A. Adams. The first was a science fiction humorist …

Quote Origin: Creativity Is Allowing Yourself to Make Mistakes. Art Is Knowing Which Ones to Keep

Scott Adams? Ricky Gervais? Douglas Adams? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Using creativity to solve a problem or create an artwork requires openness, originality, and imagination. Yet, the process inevitably produces some missteps and gaffes. That is why the following is my favorite quotation: Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which …