Tracing Quotations
Voltaire? Richard Francis Burton? Judith Krantz? Bennett Cerf? Norman Mailer? Jean Cocteau? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A notorious anecdote claims that a prominent philosopher was once asked to join a group of libertines engaging in carnal behavior. The philosopher consented, and the group admired the performance. Yet, when asked to join the group again …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Once a Philosopher; Twice a Pervert”
Mark Twain? George Carlin? Yul Brynner? Jean Cocteau? Bob Gray? Dilbert? Scott Adams? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Logic and careful reasoning are the ingredients of a constructive argument. Acrimony and irrationality are the elements of a fruitless argument. The celebrated humorist Mark Twain supposedly formulated the following cautionary remark. Here are two versions: (1) …
Jean Cocteau? Pablo Picasso? Herbert V. Prochnow? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The life mission of an artist is paradoxical. Masterpieces are not subservient to narrow facticity. Representing truths and insights requires the imaginative transformation of raw materials. Here are two versions of an energizing maxim for artists: I am a lie that always speaks the …
Pablo Picasso? Jean Cocteau? Dorothy Allison? Henry A. Murray? Peter De Vries? Albert Camus? Julie Burchill? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Art works such as novels, paintings, and sculptures embody a stylized and distorted representation of the world. Yet, deep truths can best be expressed by deviating from the straitjacket of verisimilitude. Here are four versions …
Jean Cocteau? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The prominent French artist Jean Cocteau crafted the most insightful remark about addiction that I have ever read. Some drugs permanently shift one’s perception of pleasure and purpose in the world. Would you please help me to find Cocteau’s comment about the difficulty of taking the world seriously after …
Continue reading “It Is Difficult, After Knowing Opium, To Take Earth Seriously”
Pablo Picasso? Jean Cocteau? Derek Prouse? Dear Quote Investigator: The proficiency, creativity, and potency of an artist can grow for decades. Yet, painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso apparently said the following about his change in mentality as he became older. Here are two versions: One starts to get young at 60 and then it is …
Continue reading “One Starts To Get Young at the Age of 60 and Then It’s Too Late”
Paul Valéry? W. H. Auden? Anaïs Nin? Maya Deren? Jean Cocteau? Esther Kellner? Gene Fowler? Gore Vidal? Marianne Moore? George Lucas? Oscar Wilde? Question for Quote Investigator: A creative person who is absorbed with the task of generating an artwork hesitates to declare completion. Reworking and improving a piece is always a tantalizing possibility. Here …
Continue reading “A Work of Art Is Never Finished, Merely Abandoned”
Jean Cocteau? André Fraigneau? Harold Acton? Ned Rorem? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A top literary figure whose home was packed with valuable manuscripts and art objects was once asked to choose a favorite item. A vivid and heartbreaking scenario was proposed by an interviewer. The reply described the perfect salvation: Suppose flames were consuming …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Would Carry Away the Fire”
Mohandas Gandhi? Jean Cocteau? Robbie Williams? Julian Beck? Earl B. Morgan? Tony Benn? Peter D. Jones? Louis Agassiz? Arthur Schopenhauer? Question for Quote Investigator: Mahatma Gandhi famously employed nonviolent strategies during the struggle for Indian independence. A quotation often attributed to him asserts that popular movements pass through four stages: First they ignore you. Then …
Jean Cocteau? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The prominent French writer Jean Cocteau has been credited with the following humorously skewed definition. Here are three versions: A great literary masterpiece is simply a dictionary in disorder. The greatest masterpiece in literature is only a dictionary out of order. Masterpieces of literature are nothing more than the …
Continue reading “A Great Literary Masterpiece Is Only a Dictionary in Disorder”