Robert Frost? Lillian Russell? Fliegende Blätter? Evan Esar? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: An old-fashioned quip about vanity and aging states that a diplomat always remembers a person’s birthday but never remembers a person’s age. This joke has been attributed to the famous U.S. poet Robert Frost, but I have been unable to find a …
Tag Archives: Robert Frost
Quote Origin: There Are Two Kinds of Teachers: The Kind That Fill You With So Much Quail Shot That You Can’t Move, and . . .
Robert Frost? Mark Twain? Margaret Pepperdene? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Prominent U.S. poet Robert Frost has received credit for a brilliantly vivid metaphor describing two types of teachers. One type fills students with so much quail shot they cannot move. The other type simply prods students a little, and they jump to the skies. …
The Middle of the Road is Where the White Line Is—and That’s the Worst Place To Drive
Robert Frost? Margaret Thatcher? Dwight D. Eisenhower? Aneurin Bevan? Franklin P. Jones? I. P. Reynolds? Eric Nicol? John M. Ashbrook? William Penn Patrick? Sydney Harris? Alan Craig Loughrige? Jim Hightower? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Social relationships and political decisions often entail compromise. Yet, these intermediary policies, i.e., middle-of-the-road positions, frequently engender hostility. Here is a …
Composing Free Verse Is Like Playing Tennis Without a Net
Robert Frost? G. K. Chesterton? Eleanor Graham Vance? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The prominent poet Robert Frost did not compose free verse. Instead, he welcomed the structural demands of rhyme and meter. To explicate his choice he used a clever and vivid simile from the domain of tennis. Would you please help me to find …
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Hold Fast To Dreams
Langston Hughes? Robert Frost? Zig Ziglar? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A poem about the need to maintain aspirational dreams employed a vivid metaphor based on a bird with a damaged wing. The author was Langston Hughes or Robert Frost. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In 1932 Langston Hughes published …
Freedom Lies In Being Bold
Robert Frost? Anita Brookner? Thucydides? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous poet Robert Frost enjoyed socializing with people who had strong personalities. He highlighted a connection between freedom and boldness. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In December 1952 “The New Yorker” magazine published a piece by Philip Hamburger who …
Don’t Aim for Success If You Want It. Just Do What You Love Doing, and It Will Come Naturally
Robert Frost? David Frost? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: While listening to a TEDx talk I heard an interesting motivational quotation attributed to the popular American poet Robert Frost: Don’t aim for success if that’s what you want. Do what you love and believe in, and it will follow. I doubt that the versifier of rural …
In Three Words, I Can Sum Up Everything I’ve Learned About Life. It Goes On
Robert Frost? Edna St. Vincent Millay? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The acclaimed American poet Robert Frost was asked as an octogenarian what he had learned about life, and he succinctly replied: It goes on. I have been unable to find a contemporaneous citation, and a popular quotation website says that the attribution is disputed. What …
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Dancing Is a Perpendicular Expression of a Horizontal Desire
George Bernard Shaw? George Melly? I. S. Johar? Ann Landers? Patrick Harte? Robert Frost? Winston Churchill? Oscar Wilde? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Here are two versions of an adage highlighting the sensual aspects of popular gyrations: Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire. Dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal idea. George …
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Self-Education Is the Only Kind of Education There Is
Robert Frost? Isaac Asimov? Kathleen Norris? Charles Swain Thomas? Robert Shafer? George Gallup? Dear Quote Investigator: The renowned poet laureate Robert Frost emphasized the importance of self-education. Also, the preternaturally productive science and science fiction writer Isaac Asimov extolled self-education. Here are two quotations on this topic: 1) The only education worth anything is self-education. …
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