Tracing Quotations
Mark Twain? Oscar Wilde? Socrates? Nancy Weber? Judy Tillinger? Horace Porter? J. F. Carter? Gaius Petronius Arbiter? James Ogilvy? Thomas Paine? Voltaire? Richard A. Posner? Benjamin Franklin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The ancient Greek poet Hesiod stated: Observe due measure; moderation is best in all things. An extended version of this statement has been …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Be Moderate In Everything Including Moderation”
Helen Keller? Socrates? Plato? Seneca the Younger? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A person has two genetic parents, four grandparents, and eight great-grandparents. The number of ancestors in a generation roughly doubles when going backwards in time, and this exponential growth implies that each individual has an enormous number of ancestors. This line of reasoning …
Socrates? Sophocles? Plato? Cephalus? Russell Brand? David Niven? Kingsley Amis? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There is an ancient and provocative simile that helps to explicate the irrational actions of infatuated males: The male libido is like being chained to a madman. To have a penis is to be chained to a madman. These words …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Male Libido is Like Being Chained to a Madman”
Kurt Vonnegut? Frank Sinatra? Jean-Paul Sartre? Dale Carnegie? Bud Crew? Socrates? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The 1982 novel “Deadeye Dick” by the popular author Kurt Vonnegut mentioned the following piece of graffiti: “To be is to do”—Socrates.“To do is to be”—Jean-Paul Sartre.“Do be do be do”—Frank Sinatra. I think this tripartite list first appeared …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: “To Be Is To Do” “To Do Is To Be” “Do Be Do Be Do””
Socrates? Dan Millman? All-Night Gas-Station Attendant? Nick Nolte? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A friend recently offered me a piece of advice that he thought reflected ancient wisdom: The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. These words were attributed to Socrates, …
William Butler Yeats? Plutarch? Socrates? Plato? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a superb quotation about education that I have encountered many times. Here is a collection of examples with attributions that I have been accumulating. None of the examples came with citations: What do you think? Who should properly be given credit, and …
Question for Quote Investigator: There is a great quote by Plato or Socrates about the misbehavior of children in antiquity that I read in the New York Times. The quote shows that the problems between generations are not just a recent occurrence. Instead, the conflicts between parents and offspring are timeless: The children now love …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Misbehaving Children in Ancient Times”