Umberto Eco – Quote Investigator®

Quote Origin: I Used To Be Indecisive, But Now I’m Not So Sure

Boscoe Pertwee? Umberto Eco? Christopher Hampton? Nigel Rees? Mario Cuomo? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Making definitive choices is arduous. A humorous expression reflects this predicament: I used to be indecisive, but now I’m not so sure. This quip has been attributed to Boscoe Pertwee who reportedly was an eighteenth-century wit, but I cannot find …

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Quote Origin: Social Media Gives the Right To Speak To Legions of Imbeciles Who Previously Only Spoke in Bars After Drinking

Umberto Eco? Dery Dyer? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent intellectual once denounced social media because it amplified the voices of imbeciles who in the past only propounded their opinions at local bars after drinking. This notion has been attributed to the Italian semiotician and novelist Umberto Eco who wrote “Il Nome Della Rosa” …

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Quote Origin: When People Cease To Believe in God, They Do Not Then Believe in Nothing, But in Anything

G. K. Chesterton? Malcolm Muggeridge? Émile Cammaerts? Umberto Eco? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: An individual who becomes skeptical about traditional belief systems does not automatically embrace careful thought and rationality. Instead, the individual may embrace more eccentric belief systems and superstitions. Consider the following related remark: When people cease to believe in God, they …

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