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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Which part of Propertius' Elegies is Castania referring to?
In Robert Greene's novel Gwydonius; The Carde of Fancie, Castania says to her suitor Valericus (italics from the original, bold by me),
Ah Valericus, hast thou forgot the saying of Propertius, that ...
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Which part or quote in Cicero is Greene referring to?
In Robert Greene's novel Gwydonius; The Carde of Fancie, one of the characters, Castania, uses the following words in her rejection of Gwydonius (italics from the origin; bold by me):
Better it is ...
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Source of "Immortalised in Prose, A God Among the Pages"
I'm pretty sure this comes from an English poem, referring a woman's beauty. The author suggests that roses fade and wither, and that by describing her in written word keeps her alive forever.
That ...
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Is this quote by Goethe, and what is the source?
Is this a real quote?
Few people have the imagination for reality
I have seen it attributed to Goethe in 1815, but I cannot find the source..
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Where does Goethe refer to "from the deepest mountain valley to the highest mountain top"?
I'm not sure about the precise wording of the sentence, neither in english or german.
But the quote is often used when referring to a mans life or career that has gone from the lowest low (e.g. ...
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What's the source of Michelangelo's quote: "Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle."?
Many quote Michelangelo as saying that "trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle." For example, the following passage is from the book Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character ...
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"Rudyard Kiplings" elegi / I chose life
I've had a Spanish friend tell me of a poem that is claimed to be by Rudyard Kipling.
However I was tipped off to it probably not being a Kipling poem by several facts: one, the English translation ...
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What was the exact wording from Ivanhoe of this advice on how to free yourself from slavery?
All you need to free yourself from slavery is a couple of pints of beer
I read Ivanhoe for the first time translated into Spanish, and am having a heck of time finding the material in any English ...
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Bakhtin quote about flat plots and characters
Through serendipity (this question led me to Wikipedia article about Ian Watt) I found that that the Russian literary theorist Mikhael Bakhtin is supposed to have written that certain genres with flat ...
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Mann's introduction to The Magic Mountain?
I remember that the edition of The Magic Mountain I read around 7 or 8 years ago contained an introduction that was written by Mann and inspired by a lecture he gave about his book. I remember it ...
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"The British are the nation of amateurs" -- is it really G. B. Shaw's quote?
I saw a quote in Russian language which is attributed to G. B. Shaw, but I haven't found its mentions on original language:
In Russian:
Англичане — нация любителей, а не профессионалов; их ...
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Looking for the source of a quote about moving to the edge and declaring it the new center
I once read a quote about getting to the top of your field by moving to the edge and declaring it the new center. It wasn't exactly in those words but if I remember correctly is came from someone in ...
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What did Conrad mean by teaching to see is everything?
Prof. Brooks Landon, U. Iowa, Ph.D. U. Texas at Austin. Building Great Sentences: How to Write the Kinds of Sentences You Love to Read (Great Courses) (2013). pp 16-17.
When I say that ...
user175
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Looking for an Aeschylus quote mistranslated from Polish
I am working through a book of poetry by Tadeusz Miciński, a Polish writer who was active toward the end of the 19th century. The book is called "W mroku gwiazd" or "In the Twilight of the Stars" and ...
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Flannery O'Connor's complaint about a certain letter
I recall that somewhere Flannery O'Connor complained about the condescending letter she received from her publisher, and I would like the exact reference / quote.
The complaint was something along the ...
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Quote about using accurate words (e.g. not to exaggerate beauty) to not wear down their meaning
Many years ago, I seem to recall, I read a quote that discouraged the use of superlative words for mundane events, arguing that then, when we found something truly superlative before us, we'd find ...
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In what literature does Rumi say "You are the Soul of the Soul of the Universe. And your name is Love?"
In what literature does Rumi say, "You are the Soul of the Soul of the Universe. And your name is Love?"
Any slight modification of the verse, e.g. "The soul of the soul of the universe is love" can ...
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Does this quote belong to Goethe?
This quote is often attributed to Goethe. Did he actually write this? If yes, then where can we find it? It would be wonderful if there is a reliable source or a book so that I can quote it in my ...
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Which book is the maxim 大道無門 from?
From which book is the maxim
大道無門
Zen kōan だいどうむもん "Daidō mumon"
"to achieve great understanding there is no single but thousands of ways".
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Source of the quote "The only bad question is an unasked one"?
There are many variations on this phrase, but is there an original source which inspired the others, or is it just a piece of popular wisdom that's emerged naturally from humanity?
Wikipedia has a ...
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Where does this quotation by C. S. Lewis come from?
On the internet I found this beautiful quotation by C .S. Lewis:
"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind".
Now, I'd like to find the exact book where he wrote it.
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Source of quote "Our government should have no quarrel..."
I am looking for the source of a quote which William F. Buckley Jr. referenced once during a debate. I believe he said it was from "Admiral Fulbright," but I have been completely unable to find it ...
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Quote: "No more effective device has yet been invented to prevent one man from helping another as writing a book"
I thought I once heard something like the following quote:
No more effective device has yet been invented to prevent one man from helping another as writing a book.
or maybe
There is no more ...
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In what book does Paul Dirac say, "Some new ideas are here needed"?
In an interview for the Yorkshire Television program Take the World from Another Point of View (1972), Richard Feynman said:
You see, I have had in my life a number of pleasant experiences. One of ...
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Finding author and source of quote about holocaust
I cannot remember where I read a quote about holocaust (partial quote further down) and although I'm almost certain that it was from some jewish author who himself survived holocaust I cannot remember ...
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Source of quote: "Speaking the truth that somebody wants you not to publish is journalism. Everything else is marketing."
Heard from a BitCoin motivational speaker:
Oscar Wilde said, "Speaking the truth that somebody wants you not to publish is journalism. Everything else is marketing."
However, we all know ...
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Quote about renouncing power over another and hoping they will do the same back
I'm trying to track down a quote that, through a series of examples, expresses the author's desire to renounce any power they may have over someone else (possibly the reader), each followed by their ...
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What famous writer said, "to accurately (or precisely) say how things are is to be truly revolutionary?"
The extended version is something like this: "to accurately say how things are (or how the world is) is to be truly revolutionary, to say how things (or how the world) should be merely reactionary." ...
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In which act/scene of Antigone (Sophocles) is this passage?
I just stumbled on this translation of Antigone by F. L. Lucas where it says:
Wonders there are many, but there is no wonder wilder than man - Man
who makes the winds of winter bear him, Through ...
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What is the source of Paul Theroux's quote: "Travel is glamorous only in retrospect."
There is a quote about travel attributed to the writer Paul Theroux:
Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.
This quote is used by a lot of writers on the Internet, but there is no citation ...
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What is the source of Paul Theroux's quote: "Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going."
There is a quote about travel attributed to the writer Paul Theroux: "Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going." It shows up on web sites like ...
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Tracking down a literary quote about grammar
I once read a quote that goes something like,
We should all be grateful to grammarians for saving us in fifty years
from a grievous error.
I think it's by Proust, but Google doesn't seem to ...
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Who wrote the poem that begins "What have we not done for this country"?
About 15 years ago I read a popular history (in the sense of popular science, not popular politics) of the 20th century which includes a short poem that I believe went as follows:
What have we not ...
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What is the source of the quote "Robust grass endures mighty winds..."?
To those familiar with Shakespeare, do you know where this phrase comes from?
Robust grass endures mighty winds; loyal ministers emerge through ordeal
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What is the source of Herb Caen's "I have a memory like an elephant."?
I found the following quote, attributed to author Herb Caen.
I have a memory like an elephant. I remember every elephant I've ever met.
However, my efforts to identify the source of this quote via ...
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What did Pope intend to say by "Whatever is, is right"?
What did Pope intend to say by "Whatever is, is right"?
Source: The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer (2nd edition, 2016), p. 86, middle.
Related to this is one final question: What ...
user175
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Who said this quote? Napoleon Bonaparte or Theodore Roosevelt?
Courage isn't having the strength to go on - it is going on when you don't have strength.
Who said this quote? Napoleon Bonaparte or Theodore Roosevelt?
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On a quote of Hegel in L'été (Summer) of Camus
This is my first question on this website, so I am not completely sure that this is the most adequate one (I could have also tried Philosophy stack exchange).
In the chapter "L'exil d'Hélène" of L'...
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Rilke's quotation by Jim Harrison
Jim Harrison likes to quote Rilke's "Beware, o wanderer, the road is walking too."
Does anybody know where it comes from?
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Where in the Republic does an Athenian businessman castigate "Socrates for his pursuit of abstract knowledge"?
Source: Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count (2009). p. 49.
Second, the Confucian tradition, of which Japan and Korea are a part, has little use for the idea that ...
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Did Stefan Zweig tell this anecdote in The World of Yesterday"?
Many years ago I read The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig. I believe that in this book there was the following, real-life story: Shortly before the outbreak of World War II several intellectuals, ...
user658
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Where did Rilke say or write "The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things"?
The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things.
This quote is widely attributed to the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke, but I cannot find the source. Where did he say or write ...
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What is original Persian poem of Rumi for "The garden of the world has no limits, except in your mind"?
Does anyone know the Persian text for the below poem of Rumi?
The garden of the world has no limits, except in your mind.
Source: Quotable Quote on GoodReads.
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Where did the Robert Frost Quote "If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane" come from?
I have found numerous sources that attribute the quote "If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane" to Robert Frost but for the life of me, I cannot find when / where he actually said / wrote it.
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Who was the poet who said something like "Now only God knows (what I meant to say in that poem)"
I remember having an amazing teacher of literature who used to tell us about a symbolist poet (most probably British) who once said something like: "When I wrote this poem, only God and I knew what it ...
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Who said "Poetry is the art of giving different names to the same thing"?
Over on Skeptics, Laurel found some partial information in a quote from Mathematics as a culture clue and other essays:
I once quoted that mot to a poet, and got the quick response:
"Poetry is ...
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Did Stevenson really claim to have been inspired by brownies?
Jorge Luis Borges claims, in his Book of Imaginary Beings, that the author Robert Louis Stevenson attributed some of the stranger ideas in his writing to fantastical creatures such as brownies who ...
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"It might be for years, and it might be for ever," - What is the original novel this quote appeared in?
There are many novels of the same period that have this quote in them, based on my perusal through the Internet Archive, but could anyone please tell me what the original source of the quote was?
It ...
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Where is this quote about Man, Hero, Legend and Myth from?
This quote is scattered throughout the Web:
Through action, a Man becomes a Hero
Through death, a Hero becomes a Legend
Through time, a Legend becomes a Myth
And by learning from the Myth, a Man ...
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Federico García Lorca quote: "I'm a capitalist and a socialist and a communist and an anarchist and a monarchist"
I remember very well that I was reading somewhere or I've seen it on the TV that Federico García Lorca said something like "I'm a capitalist and a socialist and a communist and an anarchist and a ...
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