Questions tagged [quote-source]

Questions seeking to identify the source of a quote. If possible, include the exact quote whose origin you're seeking, or describe it as closely as you can. (For questions seeking to identify a entire story or work of literature from some remembered details, use the [identification-request] tag instead.)

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Where did Asimov say this quote, about women becoming lawyers vs doctors or engineers because math was not required?

On the TvTropes page "Everybody Hates Mathematics", in the section of examples from "Real Life", there appears the following excerpt: Isaac Asimov once wrote in an editorial that ...
SuspiciousGarbage's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
223 views

What is the source of the quote "You can see a lot, just by looking"?

What is the source of: You can see a lot, just by looking. --- Yogi Berra I'd like a year, at least, and maybe where it appeared in print. A different version is at https://www.brainyquote.com/...
user101089's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
527 views

Does the phrase "Jack of all trades, often times better than a master of one" come from Shakespeare?

"A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one" is apparently a quote by William Shakespeare. I have searched through the complete works of Shakespeare ...
Ziarek's user avatar
  • 119
1 vote
0 answers
58 views

Source and phrasing of quote on knowledge and toil

I vaguely remember a quote one of my professors used (a long time ago) in one of his lectures about the difficulty of acquiring knowledge. It went along the lines of: "Toil is the currency used ...
peterph's user avatar
  • 111
4 votes
1 answer
684 views

Did George Bernard Shaw write the poem "Living Grave"?

You can read it here The poem gets shared a lot in vegan circles but I can't find where it was originally published.
King-Ink's user avatar
  • 173
9 votes
1 answer
2k views

"There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings" — where does this Dostoyevsky quote come from?

I read Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning and he quoted Fyodor Dostoevsky as follows: Dostoevski said once, "There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings." ...
Steven Creech's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
109 views

Where else did Rilke mention John on Patmos?

It is well known and can be inferred by an online search that Rilke has used the comparison with the writing Johannes auf Patmos in The notebooks of Malte Laurid Brigge, namely in the 57th chapter of ...
Christoph Mark's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
282 views

Seeking origin and original wording of a quotation attributed to Shakespeare

During a Pub quiz early this week, a Shakespeare quote emerged in German translation, and I am keen to know the original wording and the work it stems from, or if it is possibly part of his notes. ...
Hanno's user avatar
  • 123
1 vote
2 answers
88 views

Looking for quote from a Native American from Wounded Knee era

I stumbled across a quote by a Native American, in reference to the events following Wounded Knee. I think I came across it on wikipedia in one of the entries referenced from the Wounded Knee page or ...
pnadeau's user avatar
  • 113
1 vote
1 answer
298 views

Who wrote this poem?

This is what grief is. A hole ripped through the very fabric of your being. The hole eventually heals along the jagged edges that remain. It may even shrink in size. But that hole will always be there....
Grace's user avatar
  • 37
4 votes
0 answers
71 views

Source of alleged San Ignacio of Lyola quote: ‘In a besieged city, all dissent is treason.’

I'm trying to find the source of the quote in the title. This Guardian article from 2021 quotes ‘Hal Klepak, professor emeritus of history and strategy at the Royal Military College of Canada’ as ...
08915bfe02's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
30 views

Quote about the difference between talking about helping specific people and helping The People (in a political context)

I'm trying to find a quote about the dangers of political figures/radicals/revolutionaries/whomever shifting the rhetoric about their actions from them benefiting specific people to them benefiting ...
08915bfe02's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
5k views

Does Don Quijote in fact say "Facts are the enemy of truth"?

I recall a quote of the sort "Facts are the enemy of truth" attributed to Miguel de Cervantes in his book Don Quijote de la Mancha. However, I could not find the quote in the book by ...
Jannik Pitt's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
130 views

Is this passage from "Speaker for the Dead" a quote or an original?

In "Speaker for the Dead" (chapter 8, p. 132 of the Author's Definitive Edition), Ender says "es solo fecundo e vou plantar jardim ai", which Novahina translates as "thou art ...
Nathaniel Irvin's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
258 views

Finding the source of this quote about prediction and lying

I have this quote in my mind,but I cannot find the source for it: "Someone who claims to predict the future is lying, even if later proven right". I thought it was a variation of something ...
sacrevert's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
118 views

St. Augustine quote from Terri Cheney's Manic

In her autobiography Manic, Terri Cheney quotes Augustine: "Even monsters are divine creatures and in some way they too belong to the providential order of nature" (p. 88). I can't find this ...
ed huff's user avatar
  • 321
6 votes
1 answer
100 views

Quote from Chekhov about a person who does not answer a letter

On the Internet, one often comes across, in different versions, Chekhov's statement that a person who does not answer a letter is like a person who rejects a hand extended to him for a handshake. ...
ollazarev's user avatar
  • 163
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

“Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important.” Is this a genuine TS Eliot quote?

Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. This quote has been attributed to TS Eliot, but I can't find any sources for it outside lists of inspirational quotes, ...
Ecstatic blender boogie's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
234 views

Did Eliezer Yudkowsky read the original Harry Potter books?

This question has been asked on Reddit but without getting any properly sourced answer. Apparently there is a rumour on the internet that Eliezer Yudkowsky, author of the Harry Potter fan fiction ...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
  • 71.1k
2 votes
0 answers
188 views

Strange purported David Foster Wallace quote

You say you would only love a woman who is a reader and at least as intelligent as you. This is a challenge. Not on account of women, but the condition of Americans generally. If you were a homosexual ...
Jade Yeager's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
794 views

Locating a quote in Dostoevsky's The Idiot

I am trying to locate this quote that I came across. I believe it was spoken by Aglaya (or Nastasya?) in The Idiot, but I'm having trouble locating it: “I want to talk about everything with at least ...
David542's user avatar
  • 467
5 votes
2 answers
672 views

Did Koestler coin "mimophant"?

Wikipedia says: Koestler is said to have coined the word mimophant to describe Bobby Fischer. There are two sources given for this statement. One of them is not a source but simply a quote defining ...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
  • 71.1k
4 votes
3 answers
952 views

What is the source of this David Foster Wallace quote? Can't tell if it's actually him or not

Fiction is one of the few experiences where loneliness can be both confronted and relieved. Drugs, movies where stuff blows up, loud parties -- all these chase away loneliness by making me forget my ...
user18151's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
154 views

Where does this Greg Anderson quote come from?

I see various people attribute the quote, "Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it" to Greg Anderson. However, I haven't been ...
Hamas are war criminals's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
299 views

Where did Rousseau say, "There is nothing better than the encouragement of a good friend"?

A lot of people quote Jean-Jacques Rousseau as saying, "There is nothing better than the encouragement of a good friend". However, I have been unable to find where this comes from.
Hamas are war criminals's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
132 views

Where did this quote come from: "What is money / tis something tis nothing"

What is money tis something tis nothing tis mine tis yours tis been a slave to thousands and will be a slave to thousands hence He who takes my purse takes naught He filches from me my good name ...
Mike hullihan's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

What is the background of the epigram "I'm not a nitpicker nor a nitpicker's son, but I'll pick your nits 'til the nitpicker comes"?

I've known of the saying "I'm not a nitpicker nor a nitpicker's son, but I'll pick your nits 'til the nitpicker comes" since I was young, and so have the local county librarians. Where does ...
Kathleen's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
43 views

Looking for a quote about the importance of writing about women's stories, no matter how 'small' they are

I had a read a quote a long time ago by a famous author who was talking about how she was asked why she thought she should write about something as 'insignificant' as women talking in rooms when she ...
Shlok Sharma's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
61 views

Looking for the source of a quotation about how to draw beautifully

I vaguely remember a quotation that I might have read in a book many years ago, but can't remember exactly, what or where that was. Various search engines have been of little help, so far. It goes ...
Marcus C.'s user avatar
  • 121
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

Origin of "The bells! The bells!" quote

The quote "The bells! The bells!" is often associated with Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, but I can't find any source to actually corroborate that. It doesn't ...
Chris's user avatar
  • 153
3 votes
1 answer
50 views

Looking for location of a quote, "Nothing can work damage to me except myself", attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson

In what piece of work by Ralph Waldo Emerson can one find the following quote? Nothing can work damage to me except myself; the damage that I sustain I carry about with me and never am a real ...
wojowhiskey's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
443 views

Where did Euripides say "keep a balance in your life"?

I've seen this attributed to Euripides in various places: The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live ...
serverpunk's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
142 views

Origin of quote about the manipulation of words in Dan Simmons' "Hyperion"

In Hyperion (or The Fall of Hyperion, can't remember), from Simmons, Martin Silenus (the poet) uses a quote during his story. I am not sure if this is a quote from Keats (can't find anything related), ...
Itération 122442's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
148 views

What is the origin of this quote about God, Flies, and Spiders?

I recently came across this comment on a YouTube video: Even god has fruit flies, and for god sized fruit flies you need a god sized spider to keep god's kitchen clean Maybe it's just deja vu, but I ...
fezziks's user avatar
  • 29
2 votes
1 answer
103 views

What is the source of the quote "Hell is reserved for those who believe in it"?

I'm trying to identify the source of a quote, but I'm unsure of the exact wording. I think it's something to the effect of: Hell is reserved for those who believe in it. With an addendum (of whose ...
Rhialto the Marvellous's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
252 views

Source of Brecht quote, "I'm not trying to prove I'm right, but to find out whether", in Christie Malry

In the B. S. Johnson book Christie Malry's Own Double Entry there is a quote attributed to Bertolt Brecht saying I'm not trying to prove I'm right, but to find out whether. I'm trying to find the ...
StartPlayer's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
108 views

Is the deep source of the poetic inspiration for "A Boston Toast", specifically the Williams College song "Here's to old Fort Massachusetts", lost?

This question is in reference to the enduring New England aphorism "where the Lowells talk only to the Cabots, and the Cabots talk only to God." I arrived at this question after reading A.M. ...
Stephen Waterhouse's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
1k views

Source of quote about businessmen conspiring when they meet

I'm trying to find the source of a quotation, which goes something like, "when two businessmen meet, they will naturally conspire to create a consortium against the interests of a third". ...
user254694's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
2k views

Is “I no longer know If I wish to drown myself in love, vodka or the sea.” a real Franz Kafka quote?

It is attributed to him on various famous quote sites but strikes me as spurious. the only source attribution is to Letters to Milena but I haven't read it in years and don't have a copy.
King-Ink's user avatar
  • 173
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Poet from the 50s / 60s who said being a poet was like standing out in a storm trying to be hit by lightning

as per subject, I remember a quote like being a poet meant standing out in thunderstorms trying to be struck by lighting and if you were lucky you might get struck maybe 4 times in your life. I ...
user254694's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

Where did Orwell complain about exaggerated praise in reviews of mediocre books?

I am trying to locate a passage in which the author writes about the difficulty of praising books. He notes that praise has become so inflated that it's almost impossible to convey that a book is ...
user697473's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
599 views

Is a paragraph starting with "She nervously peered over the edge." a placeholder text, or something else?

Is a paragraph starting with "She nervously peered over the edge." a placeholder text, or something else? She nervously peered over the edge. She understood in her mind that the view was ...
Malady's user avatar
  • 596
23 votes
4 answers
5k views

Story where professor claims a step in a proof "is obvious" when it is far from obvious

I picked up a funny story about a professor who stated that something was "obvious" after taking a long time to think about it: the story on the Wiktionary user page of 'DCDuring': A ...
equin0x80's user avatar
  • 427
1 vote
0 answers
63 views

Who does this Urdu proverb originate from?

First let me try my best to transliterate the Urdu version of the quote in question: Insaan ho, to kisi ke kaam ao; warna khao, pio aur chale jao. A rough translation would be something like: If ...
Angelica's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
72 views

Is there a common origin to the phrase "the revolution will not be televised / mentioned in the newspaper"

I'm listening in an offhand way to G.K. Chesterton's Tales from the Long Bow audiobook and I heard the phrase: when the real revolution happens it won't be mentioned in the newspapers It sounded ...
Peter Turner's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
694 views

What is the source for C.S. Lewis' quote "A good book should be entertaining"?

What is the source for C.S. Lewis' quote "A good book should be entertaining"? I am looking for a written source from the author and/or attempting to discover if he wasn't just recorded by ...
Justin's user avatar
  • 61
3 votes
2 answers
474 views

Quote for the "dark ages" and "middle ages"?

I'm reading how Francesco Petrarch coined the terms "dark ages" and "middle ages" but I can't find anything remotely resembling a quote for where he coined these terms. Where, in ...
Hemphta's user avatar
  • 71
0 votes
0 answers
56 views

Where can this long sentence ending with "won't find it here" be found in "Death in the Afternoon"?

I heard that Death in the Afternoon contains a long sentence beginning ​something ​like "Those looking for the Spain" followed by a succession of branching clauses drawing focus to Spain's ...
Steve Dutky's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
149 views

Source of "talent is formed in solitude", attributed to Goethe

I'm annotating an essay by Paul Hensel and he quotes Goethe: "talent is formed in solitude, character in the currents and cataracts of the world." I can't seem to find what the source of ...
Travis Berg's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
93 views

Humorous quote about some minor indiscretion leading to a major crime

There is a humorous quote by Oscar Wilde or somebody about one minor bad act leading to a major bad act. This isn't it, but it was like this: Don't wash your hands today, then you'll start shop-...
Paul Reiners's user avatar

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