Questions tagged [quotes]
Use this tag when the question is about whether someone said or wrote a quote.
358
questions
3
votes
1answer
10k views
Did Mao say "There is great chaos under heaven - the situation is excellent"
One quote I've seen from Mao is "There is great chaos under heaven - the situation is excellent" (or "Everything in heaven is in utter chaos", "There is great disorder under the heavens", or other ...
40
votes
4answers
8k views
Did Augustine of Hippo warn Christians to beware mathematicians?
On the first page of Mathematics for the Nonmathematician, mathematician Morris Kline quotes Augustine of Hippo as saying:
The good Christian should beware the mathematician and all those who
...
15
votes
1answer
49k views
Did Eric Trump say Melania is smarter than Michelle Obama?
The facebook account StopTheWorldTheTeaBaggersWantOff shared this image, which as of this writing has 24.7k shares, 4.2k "reactions" (formerly "likes"), and 2.6k comments:
saying
Melania is way ...
5
votes
1answer
3k views
Did Albert Einstein say "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler"?
I was reading wikipedia page of Python, there I saw these lines:
Beautiful is better than ugly.
Explicit is better than implicit.
Simple is better than complex.
Complex is better than ...
59
votes
1answer
16k views
Did Martin Schulz say that it is not the EU philosophy that the crowd can decide its fate?
In the last few days, some people are attributing to European Parliament President Martin Schulz the following statement:
The British have violated the rules. It is not the EU philosophy that the ...
10
votes
2answers
788 views
Did the term "meritocracy" originate in a dystopian satire?
When Michael Young, a British sociologist, coined the term meritocracy in 1958, it was in a dystopian satire.
(source: "The War on Stupid People"@The Atlantic)
The satire mentioned was by Michael ...
96
votes
4answers
32k views
Did Einstein say this about his marriage?
I found a picture with a quote on facebook today quoting Einstein.
The quote states:
When we first got married, we made a pact. It was this:In our life together, it was decided I would make all of ...
1
vote
1answer
3k views
Did Tanya Plibersek call ISIS "not a terrorist organisation"?
This picture, with a purported quote attributed to Australian Member of Parliamenet, Tanya Plibersek, has been posted on Facebook by the "Patriots Defence League Australia":
The attribution to Tanya ...
11
votes
1answer
23k views
Did Lenin say "a lie told often enough becomes the truth"?
This particular quote is often attributed to different people including Hitler and Goebbels. Being an USSR-born I've heard many Lenin quotes about information and propaganda, but not this one, still ...
11
votes
1answer
3k views
Did St. Augustine say God was busy preparing hell for people who ask about what was He doing before creation?
Referring to this quote:
He was busy creating hell for people who ask such questions. -- St.
Augustine(in reply to "What was God doing before creation?")
Did St. Augustine actually say that?
17
votes
1answer
1k views
Did Einstein speak some unknown last words to his nurse?
On various unreliable places on the web one can find the following tale (rendition below copied from here):
Einstein refused surgery, saying: « I want to go when I want. It is insipid to prolong life ...
2
votes
2answers
3k views
Did Herodotus call Egypt the "Gift Of The Nile"?
The history site, Mr Dowling says:
About 450BCE, a Greek historian named Herodotus called Egypt the “Gift of the Nile” because the Egyptian civilization depended on the resources of the great river....
0
votes
1answer
987 views
Did "The Boy in Striped Pyjamas" have this quote, which has been compared to Trump's slogan? [closed]
Did the movies "The Boy in Striped Pyjamas" have dialogue with the following subtitle, which has been compared to Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again"?
He's [Hitler] making the country great ...
5
votes
0answers
2k views
Did Charles Dickens write this quote about Husayn ibn Ali?
Husayn ibn Ali is an important figure in Islam.
Several quotes pages attribute a quote about him to English novelist Charles Dickens:
If Hussain had fought to quench his worldly desires… then I do ...
1
vote
0answers
247 views
Did Steve Jobs compare Apple's market share with BMW, Mercedes-Benz's and Porsche?
From The Register: Apple CEO Cook: 'We're not in the junk business'
Steve Jobs reprised nearly that exact argument in a 2004 interview.
"Apple's market share is bigger than BMW's or Mercedes's or ...
4
votes
1answer
659 views
Is this protest sign referring to Europe?
Is the above picture, of a woman holding a sign with the text
You can get raped but not protest against rape
# World's largest democracy
referring to Europe?
Example tweets: 1 (containing a ...
67
votes
1answer
23k views
Did Donald Trump say republicans are the dumbest voters in the country?
I saw this image going around Twitter lately:
If I were to run, I'd run as a republican. They're the dumbest group of voters in the country. They love anything on FOX News. I could lie and ...
40
votes
1answer
9k views
Was Julius Caesar good at multitasking?
A popular belief (at least in Russia) holds that Julius Caesar was good at multitasking; he was able to read, write and give orders simultaneously.
Julius Caesar was the first person praised for ...
19
votes
2answers
3k views
Did Hillary Clinton admit in her memoirs to creating ISIS?
The Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Khamenei claimed in a speech posted on his official website that:
Some Americans have confessed in their own memoirs [including Hillary
Clinton's memoirs] ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views
Did George Washington say it was impossible to govern without the Bible?
Several sources attribute this quote to George Washington:
True religion affords government its surest support. The future of this nation depends on the Christian training of our youth. It is ...
3
votes
1answer
2k views
"The Vietnamese plant rice, the Cambodians watch it grow and the Lao listen to it grow."
Lonely Planet claims that the French had a saying that went:
The Vietnamese plant rice, the Cambodians watch it grow and the Lao
listen to it grow.
Did any Frenchman circa the colonial era ever ...
17
votes
2answers
3k views
Did Golda Meir make this quote about curfews for women?
From Why We Can’t Stay Silent on Germany’s Mass Sex Assaults
Former Israeli prime minster Golda Meir may have done and said many
things people disagree with, but one of her stances is difficult ...
1
vote
0answers
236 views
Did Rousseau say that equality of conditions is not possible without slavery?
I just read What is Property, written in 1840 by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.
At the end of the book he attributes a paraphrased quote to Jean-Jaques Rousseau:
The communistic republic of Plato ...
60
votes
1answer
10k views
Did Edison refuse to pay Tesla, saying "You don't understand our American humor"?
The story that Edison scammed Tesla out of his payment for services he was hired for is widely spread on the Internet. The story was featured on this The Oatmeal webcomic, which is excerpted below:
...
7
votes
1answer
5k views
Did Marie Curie say "Nothing in life is to be feared, it's only to be understood."?
The Art and Science museum in Singapore quoted Marie Curie as saying:
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood
I was trying to lookup the source of that quote, it's sourced ...
91
votes
1answer
15k views
Did Bill Gates say that vaccines and health care could reduce the population growth by 10-15%?
I have seen the quote below on numerous sites (example), always being attributed to Bill Gates and treated as an admission of his malicious purposes, basically proving that his vaccination programmes ...
21
votes
1answer
8k views
“War never changes”: Fallout or Ulysses S. Grant?
A question at EL&U.SE asked whether the introduction to the video game series Fallout— War. War never changes— had an earlier source in literature or a speech. A web search on this phrase turns up ...
45
votes
1answer
17k views
Did Donald Trump say that muslims should be visibly marked?
Donald Trump has been reported in the news and over the internet for suggesting that Muslims should wear some visible id or badge of some sort.
Raw Story headlined with:
Trump crosses the Nazi ...
asked Nov 22 '15 at 17:33
Tomáš Zato - Reinstate Monica
9431 gold badge10 silver badges18 bronze badges
6
votes
2answers
24k views
Did Putin say that "to forgive the terrorists is up to God"?
Refer to the Fox News item here, Putin said that:
To forgive the terrorists is up to God, but to send them to Him is up to me
It seems that the only source I can trace to is a tweet from Remi ...
10
votes
1answer
4k views
Did Woodrow Wilson say he was a 'most unhappy man' that 'unwittingly ruined' the USA?
According several "sources" including Alex Jones, Peter Joseph, users of Facebook, and 'Occupiers of Wallstreet,' Woodrow Wilson said:
I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. ...
15
votes
1answer
38k views
Did Al Pacino say "I asked God for a bike..."?
I see many quotes affirming that Al Pacino once said
I asked God for a bike but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked God for forgiveness.
However, I have never found this ...
2
votes
1answer
4k views
Did Tony Benn say this about "the establishment"?
I don't think people realise how the establishment became established. They simply stole land and property from the poor, surrounded themselves with weak minded sycophants for protection, gave ...
17
votes
1answer
6k views
Is "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" a line used by Joseph Goebbels?
This article in the UK news magazine i100 has been widely shared:
Tory MP accused of quoting Joseph Goebbels in defence of new surveillance bill in the Commons
A Conservative MP used a quote ...
6
votes
2answers
620 views
Did political analyst, Larry Sabato ever say "The higher the education level, the more likely they are to vote Democratic."?
According to an Politifact article, Is education level tied to voting tendencies?, political analyst, Larry Sabato said:
"The higher the education level, the more likely they are to vote
...
22
votes
2answers
2k views
Did Haj Amin al-Husseini tell Hitler to exterminate the Jews?
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu recently made the following claim:
“Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jews. And Haj Amin al-Husseini went to ...
35
votes
3answers
11k views
Did Noam Chomsky make the statement on privatisation that's attributed to him?
There's a quote keeps doing the rounds on Facebook and the like. It claims to be from Noam Chomsky and reads
"That’s the standard technique of privatization: defund, make sure things don’t work, ...
5
votes
1answer
4k views
Did Pope Leo X say that Christianity is a fable?
The internet is full of references to the following quote, attributed to Pope Leo X:
How well we know what a profitable superstition this fable of Christ has been for us and our predecessors.
Did ...
30
votes
1answer
17k views
Did Albert Einstein say "the only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once"?
The quote
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.
is attributed to Einstein with some regularity. (For example, Google returns 47,700 results, of which all except 5,...
7
votes
1answer
6k views
When asked, "How much is enough?", did John D. Rockefeller say, "One more dollar"?
I've often seen this quoted with no link to a credible source. Here are just a few examples:
https://starwinar.wordpress.com/daily-short-story/just-a-little-bit-more/
http://www.newworldencyclopedia....
11
votes
0answers
31k views
Did Maggie Smith compare religion to a penis?
This Twitter post (amongst many other online references) attributes the quote to Maggie Smith:
My dear, religion is like a penis. It's a perfectly fine thing for one
to have and take pride in, ...
22
votes
1answer
13k views
Was marriage defined as "selling your daughter for three goats and a cow" in the Bible?
The organisation Planting Peace recently put up a billboard in controversial county clerk Kim Davis' hometown:
Dear Kim Davis, The fact that you can't sell your daughter for three goats and a cow ...
3
votes
1answer
8k views
Did Ratan Tata rebuff an Indian minister asking him to meet with Pakistani businessmen?
Ratan Tata is an Indian businessman, and the former chairman of the Tata Group. A viral post on Facebook applauds him for refusing to meet with two Pakistani industrialists wanting to do business with ...
3
votes
1answer
1k views
Did Einstein say "God plays dice with universe"? [closed]
I know what you thinking. You are thinking: "the correct sentence is "God does not play dice"", as in his letter to Born. However, in the What is Random? video of Vsauce channel, Michael says:
...
11
votes
1answer
3k views
Did Thomas Edison say "There is no substitute for hard work"?
The quote "There is no substitute for hard work" is widely attributed to Thomas Edison, however, is anyone able to locate an original source of the quote?
3
votes
1answer
2k views
"Fable should be taught as fable..." Is this quote from Hypatia a fake?
The following quote, attributed to Hypatia (~360-415 AD), is found in many sites:
Fable should be taught as fable, myth as myth, and miracles as poetic
fancies. To teach superstitions as truth is ...
17
votes
1answer
3k views
Did Donald Trump ever say illegal immigrants should have a path to citizenship?
Recently, Donald Trump has called for mass deportation of illegal immigrants and limitation of birthright citizenship. However, many anti-Trump pundits have quoted a previous statement much friendlier ...
30
votes
1answer
6k views
Did Lenin say this about guns?
a system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny
gun ownership to the bourgeoisie - Lenin
This quote can be found all over the internet, but I can't find any reliable sources ...
21
votes
2answers
51k views
Did Fidel Castro ever make this prediction?
The Bimini Times just put out this pretty interesting and prophetic Castro quote,
The US will come to talk to us when they have a black president and the world has a Latin American Pope. - Fidel ...
2
votes
2answers
7k views
Is "Better to see something once, than to hear about it a thousand times" used by Asians?
A tourism-related twitter account tweeted:
Better to see something once, than to hear about it a thousand times. (Asian Proverb)
Is this a phrase that has been used a reasonable number of times in ...
6
votes
1answer
3k views
Did Madeleine Albright say that "Siberia held too many resources for Russia alone"?
I saw this quote here.
Is there any evidence, which confirms or refutes that she actually said and meant (it wasn't a translation error, she didn't later dismiss the statement) it?