I'm trying to locate the origin of the phrase "The righteous man champions the lost cause, knowing that all other causes are just merely events." [more inside]
posted by victoriab on Apr 15, 2009 - 2 answers

What is the original version of this quote? [more inside]
posted by dmd on Apr 5, 2009 - 8 answers

I'm looking for examples of statements -- probably but not necessarily political -- that can be taken two very different ways. [more inside]
posted by Flying Saucer on Mar 31, 2009 - 34 answers

When you're going against traffic, is that bad? Of course not, even though it sounds bad. And if you're going with traffic -- that's bad, even though it sounds good. Confusion is built in. Here's the QX: Years ago I heard a perfect phrase for this. Something like "If we leave at three, traffic's our friend." Maybe that was it. But has anybody ever heard something along these lines. Thx!
posted by Brzht on Jan 4, 2009 - 20 answers

Seeking advice about a quote from Hebrews 10:23, which states "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." This is from one of the books of the New Testament (Epistle to the Hebrews). [more inside]
posted by iamkimiam on Nov 29, 2008 - 9 answers

What is the origin of the phrase "The Cossacks work for the Czar"? This guy is fond of the phrase, which seems to mean "there's no point blaming minor political functionaries - they're working on orders, explicit or implied, from the top". It's obviously a quote. But from whom?
posted by bonecrusher on Jan 19, 2008 - 14 answers

Help me with a German sentence (quote?). German speakers: is the following sentence a quote from German literature? It's in reference to a picture of a Jewish headstone with pebbles on it. "Wieviel Wissen wird unter diesen Steinen liegen" Just wondering if this is a literary quote, or merely the musings of the commentor.
posted by nax on Jul 23, 2007 - 4 answers

I'm looking for the original source of a Charles Darwin quote, which is sometimes stated as "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." This isn't easy since seemingly thousands of authors and public speakers have quoted him without referencing the source (although they do attribute it to Darwin). Can you help? [more versions of the quote inside] [more inside]
posted by found missing on May 28, 2004 - 9 answers

Everyone seems to agree that William Butler Yeats said something along the lines of "Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire." If Google's any guide, it's become a staple of education-based speeches. But nothing I've found yet confirms it as Yeats. This page has apparently not been able to find a source, but then that seems to be the norm there for some reason. Most suspiciously, it's not in Bartlett's 16th Edition. Can anyone either say where this is from (whether Yeats or not) or point to something that debunks it?

posted by soyjoy on Dec 19, 2003 - 6 answers