Three weeks ago, I invited readers to submit quotations for which they wanted me to try to trace the origins, using The Yale Book of Quotations and more recent research by me. Dozens responded via comments or e-mails. I am responding as best I can, a couple per week.
Mark C asks:
I’d love to see a definitive attribution to this old favorite, which I’ve seen attributed to Elvis Costello, Frank Zappa, and others:
Talking/writing about music is like dancing about architecture.
The earliest occurrence of this found by The Yale Book of Quotations was the following by Elvis Costello, quoted in Musician, October 1983:
Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.
TRad writes:
“Any 20-year-old who isn’t a liberal doesn’t have a heart, and any 40-year-old who isn’t a conservative doesn’t have a brain.” I’ve seen it attributed to several persons, most often to Bismarck or Churchill.
I wrote about this in my column in the Yale Alumni Magazine:
One of the pleasures of compiling The Yale Book of Quotations was tracing and cross-referencing different versions and precursors of famous quotes. This one is usually credited to Georges Clemenceau, but W. Gurney Benham‘s Book of Quotations cites French premier and historian Francois Guizot (1787 to 1874), translating his statement as “Not to be a republican at 20 is proof of want of heart; to be one at 30 is proof of want of head.” Benham asserts that “Clemenceau adopted this saying, substituting socialiste for republicain.”
But I was delighted to find that John Adams had expressed a similar idea well before Guizot entered adulthood. Thomas Jefferson preserved this quip, writing in a 1799 journal that Adams had said: “A boy of 15 who is not a democrat is good for nothing, and he is no better who is a democrat at 20.”
Do any readers have any other quotations whose origins they would like me to attempt to trace?
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I have the following quote in a frame and it’s attributed to Emerson, but I’ve since learned that probably isn’t accurate. Could you provide more details?
To laugh often and much
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
FWIW, Churchill was a Conservative until he was 30, a Liberal from then until he was 50, and a Conservative again until his death, making the attribution of this line to him fairly ludicrous but slightly humorous.
I am not sure of the exact quote, but the gist of it is “no man who can read can be denied an education.” I seem to recollect that it should be either Franklin or Jefferson. I should not be surprised if it originates even earlier.
I’d like to know who originally said, “That government is best which governs least.” When trying to find the origin, I’ve run across John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine. Who actually said this?
What’s the origin of “Every shot not taken is a 100% miss” or some variation on it? My cousin attributes it to Wayne Gretzky, but the rest of my family has some doubts about that.
I thought it was either Ch. Mingus or T. Monk who made the first comment about jazz reviewers/columnists/writers… “writing about jazz is like dancing about… ” (something or other here).
Steve
I would love to know the original source of this one: “A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems.” I’ve seen it attributed most often to Paul Erdos or Alfréd Rényi, occasionally to other famous mathematicians/scientists.
I’m not sure of the exact quote but it goes something like this: the battles in academia are so vicious because the stakes are so low.
thanks.