Tag: Sherwin D. Smith

Brendan Francis? Edward F. Murphy? Jonathon Green? Sherwin D. Smith? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: I came across the following quotation in the 1978 reference “The Crown Treasury of Relevant Quotations” compiled by Edward F. Murphy:^[1] 1978 Copyright, The Crown Treasury of Relevant Quotations, Compiled by Edward F. Murphy, Topic: Quotation, Quote Page 500, Crown Publishers, New York. (Verified with scans)

A quotation in a speech, article or book is like a rifle in the hands of an infantryman. It speaks with authority.

The reference credited Brendan Francis, but I have been unable to discover anything about Francis. Does he really exist? I suspect that the name is a pseudonym. Would you please explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: Your suspicions are justified. “The Crown Treasury of Relevant Quotations” included more than sixty entries ascribed to Brendan Francis. In 1999 researcher Thomas Fuller attempted to learn more about Francis and concluded that Francis was actually a pseudonym for Edward F. Murphy who compiled the book. QI agrees with this hypothesis. Evidence is presented further below.

Here is a sampling of six statements in Murphy’s book ascribed to Brendan Francis:^[2]1978 Copyright, The Crown Treasury of Relevant Quotations, Compiled by Edward F. Murphy, Topic: Interruption, Quote Page 382, Topic: Psychiatry, Quote Page 497, Topic: Decision, Quote Page 205, … Continue reading

Other people’s interruptions of your work are relatively insignificant compared with the countless times you interrupt yourself.

Many a patient, after countless sessions, has quit therapy, because he could detect no perceptible improvement in his shrink’s condition.

Some persons are very decisive when it comes to avoiding decisions.

Most people perform essentially meaningless work. When they retire, that truth is borne in upon them.

Rights are something other people grant you after you’ve fought tooth-and-nail for them.

What an author likes to write most is his signature on the back of a check.

Murphy was a mathematics teacher in Manhattan.^[3]1991, Baseball’s Greatest Quotations, Compiled by Paul Dickson, Section: Shakespeare On Baseball, Quote Page 390, Edward Burlingame Books: An Imprint of HarperCollins, New York. (Verified with … Continue reading He published groups of quotations in periodicals such as “The New York Times”^[4] 1961 April 30, New York Times, Play Ball!, Compiled by Edward F. Murphy, (Collection of quotations about baseball), Quote Page SM54, Column 2 and 3, New York. (ProQuest) and “Sports Illustrated”.^[5]1976 September 13, Sports Illustrated, Football formation in which Bobby Layne, T. S. Eliot both call signals, Compiled by Edward F. Murphy, (Collection of quotations about football), Page number … Continue reading

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading Other People’s Interruptions of Your Work Are Relatively Insignificant Compared With the Countless Times You Interrupt Yourself