Quote Investigator®

Which famous entrepreneur proclaimed the following? I tell you genius is hard work, stick-to-it-iveness, and common sense quoteinvestigator.com/2026/03/26/gen… Answer: Thomas Edison

A famous entrepreneur proclaimed the following. Who was it? I tell you genius is hard work, stick-to-it-iveness, and common sense See the next message for the answer.

Are you curious?

A cat has absolute emotional honesty. People hide their feelings for various reasons, but cats never do Did Ernest Hemingway really say this, or was it created for an inspirational cat book? quoteinvestigator.com/2026/03/24/cat…

A young person was found guilty of murdering his two parents. The judge asked, "Have you anything to say before I pass sentence?" The defendant replied, "I hope Your Honor will have mercy on a poor orphan." Did Artemus Ward originate this anecdote? quoteinvestigator.com/2026/03/23/mer…

This account has over 3 million followers and quite the ironic name... There is no evidence of Einstein saying or writing this. It's mostly likely based on an author confusing Einstein with someone else. quoteinvestigator.com/2013/08/27/ein…

Why? Because experience taught him! Nice investigation!

Was the following remark spoken by physician Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. or jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.? The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions quoteinvestigator.com/2026/03/17/kno…

“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).”

@Greenbackd Ignoranti quem portum petat, nullus suus ventus est. If a man does not know to what port he is steering, no wind is favourable to him. Seneca. Epistolae, LXXI., 3. quoteinvestigator.com/2011/11/25/fav…

@QuoteResearch Seneca On the Supreme Good? "When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind."

If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there Did this saying originate with the Lewis Carroll's Cheshire cat? quoteinvestigator.com/2026/03/11/any…

@Greenbackd Interesting. That statement is closer to this family of sayings: Proverb Origin: If You’re Not Sure Where You’re Going, You’re Liable to End Up Someplace Else quoteinvestigator.com/2026/03/04/kno… 1907 Nov 25: If you don’t know where you are going you will never arrive

@_Gottalovezik If you aren’t paying for it, you’re the product. Originally said about ad supported tv, via @QuoteResearch quoteinvestigator.com/2017/07/16/pro…

@BillEllson @kodylow @a16z Thanks for your help. The QI article has been updated with the June 27, 1907 citation in the Huddersfield Daily Examiner. The acknowledgement was also updated. Changes should be visible within 24 hours quoteinvestigator.com/2017/03/06/tap/

@kodylow @a16z @QuoteResearch I searched for "knowing where to tap" in the British Newspaper Archive. Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 27 June 1907 Same wording, but headed "The Expert - A Fable", cites " 'The Story-Teller' for July " as the source.

Alex Rampell: "Humans are capable and willing to pay for incompetence." "Imagine you're locked out of your apartment. It's midnight. You hire a locksmith." "He comes one minute later. Lets you in in 30 seconds. Says it's 500 bucks." "You're like 500 bucks? What the F?" "Now imagine a parallel universe. The locksmith comes. Spends nine hours trying to let you in." "Goes back to his office to get more tools. Finally, by like 9:30 in the morning, lets you into your apartment." "You're so grateful that he spent nine and a half hours helping you get into your apartment that you give him a $200 tip." "It doesn't make any sense, but it feels fair." @arampell @mcannonbrookes @eriktorenberg

@JoyceCarolOates Every great man nowadays has his disciples, and it is usually Judas who writes the biography. Oscar Wilde in The Butterfly’s Boswell, 1887 quoteinvestigator.com/2021/08/11/jud…

it's possible to be sympathetic with both subject & biographer. no one wants to read--or to write--a hagiography in which the subject is presented as a beacon of perfection; but the stereotypical goal of "warts & all" suggests a wish to diminish the subject through small, petty details. (are warts so very common? in fact, who has warts today?) in an effort to appear to be even-handed, a biographer may feel the need to include derogatory remarks about the subject provided by interviewees who are not even accurate, or excerpts from mean-spirited reviews of the kind all writers receive occasionally. how fair is this? details about Judy Blume's medical history should surely remain private. would the biographer feel comfortable with such details about his own life revealed?

He Wrote Judy Blume’s Life Story. She Won’t Talk About It. nytimes.com/2026/03/08/boo…

@aarteliteraria @BillEllson @kodylow @a16z Thanks! The table of contents of the July 1907 issue of "The Story-Teller" does not list "THE EXPERT—A FABLE". Maybe it was omitted from the table of contents because it was short

@BillEllson @kodylow @a16z @QuoteResearch #A23" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">philsp.com/homeville/FMI/…

@a16z Literally doing the meme quoteinvestigator.com/2017/03/06/tap…

Don’t worry about people stealing your idea. If it’s original you will have to ram it down their throats Who said this: Howard H. Aiken? Kenneth E. Iverson? Grace Murray Hopper? Anonymous? quoteinvestigator.com/2026/03/06/ide…

If you're not sure where you're going, you're liable to end up someplace else Who said this: baseball player Yogi Berra? advice columnist Abigail Van Buren? psychologist Robert F. Mager? someone else? quoteinvestigator.com/2026/03/04/kno…