William Butler Yeats? John Millington Synge? Oliver Stone? George Bernard Shaw? Mary Higgins Clark? Martha Manning? Paul Greenberg? James Finn Garner? Apocryphal? Anonymous? — Question for Quote Investigator: The painful history of the island of Ireland has produced numerous inhabitants with a melancholy disposition. This notion is reflected in the following humorously inverted saying: Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.

Ralph Waldo Emerson? Mary Pickford? Irving Hoffman? Office Cat? Junius? Anonymous? — Question for Quote Investigator: A constant stream of social media and news updates is available to each of us. It is easy to seek out material which induces anger, yet the value of continuously inflicting aggravation and anguish upon oneself is unclear. Here are two versions of a pertinent adage: …

Mark Twain? Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.? Markus Herz? Ernst Freiherr von Feuchtersleben? Walter C. Alvarez? Anonymous? — Question for Quote Investigator: All kinds of medical advice is available on the internet. However, the quality is variable, and some of the recommendations are deleterious. A pertinent quip has been circulating for decades. Here are two versions: (1) Never read medical books. You might die of a misprint. (2) Be…

Vincent van Gogh? Sarah Harding? Anonymous? — Question for Quote Investigator: Conforming to social norms is much easier than following a divergent, colorful, and eccentric pathway through life. This notion has been expressed as follows: Normality is a paved road; it’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it. The famous Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh…

M. Frida Hartley? William Ralph Inge? Jan Bryant Bartell? Anonymous? — Question for Quote Investigator: A verse condemning cruelty toward animals begins with the following two lines: From beasts we scorn as soulless, In forest, field and den This verse has been attributed to British social activist M. Frida Hartley and influential Anglican priest William Ralph Inge. I have not yet…

Marcus Tullius Cicero? G. K. Chesterton? Henry Ward Beecher? Mrs. Ashton Yates? John Lubbock? William Forsyth? William Lucas Collins? Apocryphal? — Question for Quote Investigator: The most attractive room in a large house is the library. Here are three versions of a germane adage: (1) A house without books is like a body without a soul. (2) Without books, a house is but a body without a soul. …

Maya Angelou? Celia Caroline Cole? Friedrich Nietzsche? George Martin? Michael Frisby? Anonymous? — Question for Quote Investigator: The Earth has natural rhythms such as the high and low tides of the ocean. The sky also has rhythms such as the oscillating electromagnetic radiation from a pulsar. Here is a saying on this theme: Everything in the universe has a rhythm; everything dances. These…

Mark Twain? Humphry Davy? Robert G. Ingersoll? Cato the Elder? Hugh M‘Neile? Cassius Marcellus Clay? Thomas Fuller? — Question for Quote Investigator: A person of great merit may not receive any recognition while an unworthy person may receive numerous accolades. This perverse disconnection has inspired the following ethical stance: It is better to deserve honours and not to have them than to have them and not deserve them.

Mary Shelley? Mary Wollstonecraft? Wednesday Addams? Epictetus? George Stanhope? Gustav Friedrich Wiggers? — Question for Quote Investigator: Usually, a person does not perform an evil act simply because it is evil. Instead, the motivation is more complex. The person is pursuing their own deeply flawed vision of good. Often, the person is pursuing their own happiness or pleasure. This notion has been attributed…