Questions tagged [quotes]
Use this tag when the question is about whether someone said or wrote a quote.
375
questions
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Did Fidel Castro ever say "I will not die until America is destroyed"
A massively popular tweet (50k retweets) by Ryan Holmquist quotes Fidel Castro
It reads,
Castro: I will not die until America is destroyed
Trump: I'm gonna be the president
Castro: well ...
- 28.2k
2
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Did Omar Khayyam say this about religion?
Atheistrepublic.com made the following meme which claims:
lf instead of studying religion, men would have
devoted to develop mathematics - algebra.
lf logic of science would have occupied ...
- 15.6k
0
votes
1
answer
574
views
Did Hussam Ayloush tweet that the [US] people want to bring down the [Trump] regime?
Hussam Ayloush is the long-time head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations's LA Office.
Daniel Pipes is an America commentator and historian who is the president of the Middle East Forum.
...
user36356
9
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Did George Soros say he helped a Nazi confiscate property?
George Soros is a billionaire financier of Left Wing causes and candidates, including Hillary Clinton.
Soros has been accused of being a Nazi collaborator and of funding anti-Jewish and anti-Israel ...
user36356
11
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Did Newton declare that he had never lost a single drop of his seminal fluid?
This book A Mind of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis contains the following sentence:
Isaac Newton supposedly “never lost a single drop of seminal fluid.
And in Everybody's Own Physician; ...
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28
votes
1
answer
17k
views
Did Albert Einstein say World War 4 would be fought with sticks and stones?
Did Albert Einstein say this about World Wars?
I know not with what weapons WW3 will be fought, but WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones.
or did he say this?
I do not know what weapons the ...
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6
votes
1
answer
2k
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Did John Lennon say this skeptical thing about foreign aid to poor countries?
The show is always a mess and the artist always comes off badly… [Plus] America has poured billions into places like that. It doesn’t mean a damn thing. After they’ve eaten that meal, then what? It ...
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10
votes
1
answer
17k
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Is "We, the willing, led by the unknowing" correctly attributed to Konstantin Jireček or Mother Theresa?
We, the willing
Led by the unknowing
Are doing the impossible
For the ungrateful
We have done so much
For so long
With so little
We are now qualified
To do anything
With nothing
(...
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9
votes
1
answer
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Did Obama call for online "truthiness tests" to "curate" news on the internet?
I came across an article on Breitbart that cites Obama in the following ways:
We are going to have to rebuild within this
wild-wild-west-of-information flow some sort of curating function that
...
- 1,414
8
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Did Hillary Clinton say this quote about Donald Trump and equal pay? [closed]
A meme on 9gag says:
"He [Trump] doesn't think women deserve equal pay unless they do as good a
job as men."
Hillary Clinton 09/26/2016
Is this true that Clinton actually said that?
May I ...
- 1,111
17
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Did Thomas Jefferson say it would take "a thousand years" to settle the Mississippi Valley?
The earliest source I can find for this claim through Google Books is a 1910 geography textbook, which gives a date for the quotation (1803), but no further sources for it.
A social studies journal ...
- 173
4
votes
1
answer
25k
views
Were Vincent Van Gogh's final words "the sadness will last forever?"
This reddit post claims that Vincent Van Gogh's final words were "la tristesse durera toujours", and that that translates to "the sadness will last forever". A google image search of "vincent van gogh ...
- 2,067
3
votes
0
answers
440
views
Did Gary Johnson not know who Harriet Tubman was?
I've recently been seeing articles on Facebook and Google about 2016 US Presidential Nominee Gary Johnson being escorted into a room named after Abolitionist and US Civil War spy, Harriet Tubman. He ...
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59
votes
2
answers
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Did Donald Trump call Alicia Machado "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping"?
During the first Trump-Clinton presidential debate, Clinton said:
He called this woman "Miss Piggy." Then he called her "Miss
Housekeeping," because she was Latina. Donald, she has a name. Her ...
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12
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Did Marilyn Monroe say that she could stop giving oral sex after signing her first contract?
This my first question here. I hope it is appropriate for this site.
I recently saw here (I am translating from Greek) that Marilyn Monroe after signing her first contract said something like
...
6
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Did George Washington say no political parties?
I hear often that George Washington said he did not want political parties after he left. I've had trouble finding a source for this. Also, since democracy was so young, wouldn't the idea of political ...
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votes
1
answer
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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 ...
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40
votes
4
answers
9k
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
...
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15
votes
1
answer
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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 ...
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4
votes
1
answer
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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 ...
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59
votes
1
answer
17k
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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 ...
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11
votes
2
answers
831
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 ...
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96
votes
4
answers
33k
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 ...
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1
vote
1
answer
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 ...
- 441
14
votes
1
answer
26k
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 USSR-born I've heard many Lenin quotes about information and propaganda, but not this one, still it ...
- 399
11
votes
1
answer
3k
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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?
- 3,369
17
votes
1
answer
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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 ...
- 967
2
votes
2
answers
3k
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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....
- 301
0
votes
1
answer
1k
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 ...
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5
votes
0
answers
3k
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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 ...
- 51
1
vote
0
answers
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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 ...
- 38.5k
4
votes
1
answer
672
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 ...
- 38.5k
65
votes
1
answer
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 ...
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37
votes
1
answer
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 ...
- 4,255
19
votes
2
answers
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] ...
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8
votes
2
answers
2k
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
1
answer
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 ...
user17967
17
votes
2
answers
4k
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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 ...
- 38.5k
1
vote
0
answers
240
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 ...
- 111
59
votes
1
answer
11k
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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:
...
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7
votes
1
answer
5k
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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 ...
- 18.6k
91
votes
1
answer
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 ...
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24
votes
1
answer
8k
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“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 ...
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45
votes
1
answer
17k
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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 ...
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6
votes
2
answers
25k
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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 ...
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9
votes
1
answer
4k
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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. ...
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15
votes
1
answer
41k
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 ...
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2
votes
1
answer
5k
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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 ...
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17
votes
1
answer
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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 ...
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6
votes
2
answers
651
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
...
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