Johann P. F. Richter – Quote Investigator®

Quote Origin: Birthdays Are Feathers in the Broad Wing of Time

Jean Paul? Johann Paul Friedrich Richter? Charles T. Brooks? H. L. Mencken? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The experience of a birthday inspires philosophical reveries in some older people. Apparently, a literary figure once wrote: Birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time. This statement has been credited to the German Romantic writer Johann …

Continue reading “Quote Origin: Birthdays Are Feathers in the Broad Wing of Time”

Experience Is the Best of Schoolmasters; Only the School-Fees Are Heavy

Thomas Carlyle? Benjamin Franklin? Samuel Taylor Coleridge? Johann P. F. Richter? Minna Antrim? Heinrich Heine? William Ralph Inge? Dear Quote Investigator: The most memorable and painful lessons are usually learned via direct experience, but the cost can be very high. A family of adages depict this point of view. Here are two instances: Experience is …

Continue reading “Experience Is the Best of Schoolmasters; Only the School-Fees Are Heavy”

When One Door Closes Another Opens, But Often We Look So Long Upon the Closed Door That We Do Not See the Open Door

Helen Keller? Alexander Graham Bell? Johann P. F. Richter? Miguel de Cervantes? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A venerable adage emphasizes the desirability of retaining a positive outlook and flexibility. Plans always encounter difficulties, and a successful person must be able to adapt. Here are two instances of a proverb that employs doorways figuratively: When one …

Continue reading “When One Door Closes Another Opens, But Often We Look So Long Upon the Closed Door That We Do Not See the Open Door”

The More Sand Has Escaped from the Hourglass of Our Life, the Clearer We Should See Through It

Niccolò Machiavelli? Jean-Paul Sartre? Jean Paul? Johann Paul Friedrich Richter? Dear Quote Investigator: A student would like to use the following quotation about perspicacity gained through experience in a yearbook, but she has been unable to determine an appropriate ascription: The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should …

Continue reading “The More Sand Has Escaped from the Hourglass of Our Life, the Clearer We Should See Through It”