Dwight D. Eisenhower? William Safire? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Historically, the censorship impulse has been enormously powerful and nearly universal. Interestingly, the nature of the repressed material has been highly variable. It has included sexual, ideological, religious, cultural, and military topics. The opposition to censorship has also been forcefully expressed. Apparently, a U.S. President …
Tag Archives: Dwight D. Eisenhower
It’s Not the Size of the Dog in the Fight, It’s the Size of the Fight in the Dog
Mark Twain? Dwight D. Eisenhower? Arthur G. Lewis? Clarence Edmundson? Bear Bryant? Harry Howell? Samuel B. Pettengill? Woody Hayes? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: When there is a conflict between two entities an observer naturally expects the larger one to prevail, but sometimes the determination and grit of the smaller one produces an upset victory. …
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Quote Origin: Everybody Has Plans Until They Get Hit for the First Time
Mike Tyson? Joe Louis? Helmuth von Moltke the Elder? Fair Play? Walter Payton? Mike Lupica? Dwight D. Eisenhower? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The opponent of a well-known boxing champion stated that he had a plan to win an upcoming match. The champion replied with a caustic dismissive remark. Here are four versions: (1) Everybody …
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No Plan Survives First Contact With the Enemy
Helmuth von Moltke the Elder? Carl von Clausewitz? Dwight D. Eisenhower? Mike Tyson? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Anybody who is attempting to accomplish a major project must be flexible. Planning is important, but adaptability is essential. Here are two versions of a pertinent adage from the domain of warfare and competition: No plan survives contact …
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Plans Are Worthless, But Planning Is Everything
Dwight D. Eisenhower? Winston Churchill? Richard M. Nixon? Helmuth von Moltke? Mike Tyson? Anonymous Dear Quote Investigator: The World War II leader and U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apparently made a paradoxical statement about preparation. Here are two versions: 1) Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. 2) Plans are worthless, but planning is essential. …
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Suffering from Delusions of Adequacy
Who was speaking: Walter F. Kerr? Michael Foot? Erskine Johnson? Charlton Heston? David Brin? Who was criticized: Jay Robinson? Dwight Eisenhower? Charlton Heston? Dear Quote Investigator: The complaint that someone is exhibiting “delusions of grandeur” has become a cliché. However, a clever modification of the phrase was memorably employed by a theater critic who was …
What Is Important Is Seldom Urgent and What Is Urgent Is Seldom Important
Dwight D. Eisenhower? John Le Carré? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a popular time management scheme called the Eisenhower Decision Principle or the Eisenhower Matrix which is named after U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Every task is evaluated based on two axes: important/unimportant and urgent/not urgent. There are different rules for each type of …
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Don’t Just Do Something; Stand There
Elvis Presley? Dwight D. Eisenhower? The White Rabbit? Clint Eastwood? Martin Gabel? Adlai Stevenson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Some humorous quotations are created by cleverly transforming prosaic expressions. Most people are familiar with the exhortation: Don’t just stand there, do something. However, occasionally inaction is preferable, and the following rearranged sentence has been employed: Don’t …
Things Are More Like They Are Now Than They Have Ever Been
Dwight D. Eisenhower? Gerald Ford? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: President Dwight D. Eisenhower is commonly credited with making a comical statement that is almost a tautology. Here are a few different versions of his supposed remark: Things are more like they are right now than they ever have been. Things are more like they are …
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