Tracing Quotations
George Santayana? Edmund Burke? Winston Churchill? Question for Quote Investigator: The study of history teaches vital lessons; however, those lessons are often unheeded. Here are five versions of a popular adage: (1) Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. (2) Those who do not learn from the experience of history are …
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George Santayana? W. H. Auden? Cyril Connolly? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Fortunate people experience life as an overflowing banquet coupled with a remarkable series of sights and sounds. But most people have more complicated ordeals. Here are two pertinent expressions: Life is not a spectacle or a feast; it is a predicament. Life is neither …
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Charles Alexandre de Calonne? Lady Aberdeen? George Santayana? Fridtjof Nansen? Nicolas Beaujon? Baron de Breteuil? Mrs. William Tilton? Dear Quote Investigator: There exists a family of entertaining sayings that cheerfully displays inordinate confidence: 1) If the thing be possible, it is already done; if impossible, it shall be done. 2) If it is simply difficult, …