Quote Investigator® – Tracing Quotations

Quote Origin: As I Looked Out into the Night Sky, Across All Those Infinite Stars It Made Me Realise How Insignificant They Are

Peter Cook? Russell Brand? George Weiss? Apocryphal?

Photo of a starry sky from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: Looking up at the vast star-filled night sky makes many people feel humble. But a humorist flipped this cliché and stated that the myriad stars were insignificant. This notion has been attributed to English comedian Peter Cook and English personality Russell Brand. I have not seen a solid citation; hence, I am skeptical. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The awe-struck humbling reaction to viewing the night sky has a long history. For example, in 1878 Professor Garrison of Chicago spoke at the “General Conference of Liberal Thinkers” in London and stated the following. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

When the telescope was invented we began to see how insignificant we are, and how a little drop of dew is to our globe something like what we know ourselves to be to the universe.

QI hypothesizes that the quip under examination was derived from a comical dialogue broadcast by the BBC in 1993. Peter Cook played a character named Norman House who was interviewed by Clive Anderson. House/Cook made the extraordinary claim that he had been abducted by aliens:²

Clive Anderson: What planet were you on? Was it Mars or Venus?

Norman House: Ikea. They were people who arrived millions of years ago in cardboard boxes and were forced to assemble themselves.

Anderson requested more details about the aliens on planet Ikea:

Clive Anderson: What do they do for food? Do they eat?

Norman House: No, they’ve been on a diet for two million years. They don’t eat. They have no stomachs or mouths, they just have two slit eyes. So it’s a good thing they don’t eat because there’s really nowhere for them to put the food.

Clive Anderson: Has this experience changed you in any way?

Norman House: Yes. An experience like that — in fact, that experience — made me realise how insignificant they were.

Thus, the main punchline delivered by Peter Cook emphasized the insignificance of a group of aliens and not stars. Nevertheless, QI conjectures that a faulty recollection of this skit led to the creation of the quip about “infinite stars”. The science fictional scenario was a natural venue for both aliens and stars.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: The Most Dangerous Worldview is the Worldview of Those Who Have Not Viewed the World

Alexander von Humboldt? Moritz Goldschmidt? Edward O. Wilson? Phil Cousineau? Martin Kues? Anonymous?

**Map of a fantasy world with dragons and serpents**

Question for Quote Investigator: Often people with a misguided, narrow, or dogmatic view of the world have never fully experienced the world. The following saying functions as a warning:

The most dangerous worldview is the worldview of those who have not viewed the world.

This statement has been attributed to the German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt. However, I have never seen a solid citation, and I am skeptical. Would you please explore the provenance of this expression?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Austrian quotation expert Gerald Krieghofer carefully examined this topic and found no substantive support for the attribution to Alexander von Humboldt who died in 1859. Krieghofer contacted Dr. Ingo Schwarz of the Alexander von Humboldt Research Center at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities who also indicated that the quotation was absent from the writings of Humboldt.¹

The earliest match known to QI appeared in 1895 within the “Münchener Kunst- und Theater-Anzeiger” (“Munich Art and Theater Gazette”) which published the following five lines in an article featuring “Sinngedichte” (“Epigrammatic Poems”) by Moritz Goldschmidt. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:²

Seltsamste Weltanschauungen heute
Schießen wunderbar üppig ins Kraut
Gefährlich allein ist stets die erneute
Furchtbare Weltanschauung der Leute,
Die die Welt nie angeschaut.

Here is one possible English translation:

The strangest worldviews nowadays
Are sprouting up in wild profusion;
The only truly dangerous one is the recurring,
Dreadful worldview of those people
Who have never actually looked at the world.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Everything Is What It Is Because It Got That Way

D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson? Kenneth E. Boulding? John Hospers? Daniel Dennett? William H. Calvin? William Pittenger? Apocryphal?

**Illustration from “On Growth and Form” by D’Arcy Thompson**

Question for Quote Investigator: Scottish biologist D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson often receives credit for the following concise statement about biological structures:

Everything is what it is because it got that way.

Thompson authored the influential 1917 book “On Growth and Form”, but I was unable to find this saying inside that book.¹ Hence, I am skeptical of this attribution.

The economist Kenneth E. Boulding has also received credit for this saying, but I have never seen a precise citation. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest close match known to QI appeared in 1968 within a book chapter titled “America’s Economy: The Qualified Uproarious Success” by Kenneth E. Boulding. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:²

There is a very fundamental principle of nature which states that everything is what it is because it got that way; in other words, we must look at the history of a structure before we can really understand it.

Boulding indicated in his other writings that he had formulated this saying based on his interpretation of the book “On Growth and Form” by D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson. Thus, Boulding deserves credit for the phrase although Thompson inspired him.

Here is an overview presenting dates, attributions, and statements. This overview includes variants based on the template to provide variety:

1871 Aug: Everything is as it is, because it could be no other way. (William Pittenger presented his conception of an atheistic viewpoint)

1903 Jul: Everything is as it is because everything has the will of God as its primary cause. (J. W. Richard presented his conception of the viewpoint of theologian John Calvin)

1909 Oct: Each thing is as it is because it is best for it so to be. (A philosophical viewpoint mentioned by Charles M. Bakewell)

1953: Everything is what it is because of everything that ever happened to it and all the conditions under which it exists. (John Hospers)

1953: At any moment the form of any object, organism, or organization is a result of its laws of growth up to that moment. (Kenneth E. Boulding presented his conception of the viewpoint of D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson)

1960: Everything is what it is at any moment because it got that way by a process of growth. (Kenneth E. Boulding presented his conception of the viewpoint of D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson)

1968: Everything is what it is because it got that way. (Kenneth E. Boulding presented this as a fundamental principle of nature)

1986: Everything is what it is because it got that way. (Attributed to D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson by William H. Calvin)

1987: Everything is what it is because it got that way. (Kenneth E. Boulding claimed this saying was his “own invention” inspired by D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson)

1991: Everything is what it is because it got that way. (Attributed to D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson by Daniel Dennett)

Below are details for selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Mathematics Is the Simple Bit. It’s the Stuff We Can Understand. It’s Cats That Are Complicated

John Horton Conway? Mariana Cook? Alexander Masters? Apocryphal?

**Picture of a kitten with a flower from Pixabay**

Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent mathematician once said something like the following:

Mathematics is simple. Cats are complicated.

Would you please help me to find the correct phrasing and the name of the mathematician?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Channel 4 of the BBC broadcast a series titled “What We Still Don’t Know” in December 2004.¹ The third episode was called “Are We Real?”,² and it featured an appearance by English mathematician John Horton Conway of Princeton University who discussed the cellular automaton game he had invented named Conway’s Game of Life. Conway began with a remark comparing mathematics and cats:³

You know, people think that mathematics is complicated. Mathematics is the simple bit. It’s the stuff we can understand. It’s cats that are complicated. I mean, what is it in those little molecules and stuff that make one cat behave differently to another, or that make a cat? I mean, how do you define a cat? I’ve no idea.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Keep a Notebook. Travel with It, Eat with It, Sleep with It

Jack London? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: A popular U.S. novelist provided the following advice to aspiring writers:

Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain.

These words have been attributed to Jack London who authored the novels “White Fang” and “The Call of the Wild”. London also crafted the classic short story “To Build a Fire”. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In March 1903 “The Editor: A Journal of Information for Literary Workers” published an article titled “Getting into Print” by Jack London which suggested that authors should maintain a notebook. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain. Cheap paper is less perishable than gray matter, and lead pencil markings endure longer than memory.

And work. Spell it in capital letters, WORK. WORK all the time.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: If You Hear a Voice Within You Say, ‘You Cannot Paint,’ Then Paint All the More, and That Voice Will Be Silenced

Vincent van Gogh? Brenda Ueland? Apocryphal?

**The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh**

Question for Quote Investigator: A famous painter exhorted aspiring artists with the following encouraging words:

If you hear a voice within you saying: “you are no painter,” then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

This remark has been credited to Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Is this a genuine quotation? Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The Van Gogh Museum of Amsterdam maintains a valuable database of letters which is accessible via the vangoghletters.org website. In October 1883 Vincent van Gogh sent a letter to his brother Theo which contained a version of the quotation in Dutch. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Als iets in U zelf zegt “gij zijt geen schilder” – SCHILDER DAN JUIST kerel, en die stem bedaart ook, maar slechts daardoor. – Wie als hij dat voelt gaat naar vrienden en zijn nood klaagt, verliest iets van zijn mannelijkheid, iets van het beste wat in hem is. – Uw vrienden kunnen slechts zijn dezulken die zelf daartegen vechten, door eigen voorbeeld van actie het active in U opwekken.

Here is one possible translation into English:

If something in you yourself says ‘you aren’t a painter’ — IT’S THEN THAT YOU SHOULD PAINT, old chap, and that voice will be silenced too, but only through the act of painting itself. Anyone who, feeling this, turns to friends to bemoan his plight loses a measure of his manliness — something of the very best within him. Your friends can only be those who are themselves fighting that same battle, awakening the active spirit within you through the example of their own deeds.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Help Is the Sunny Side of Control

Anne Lamott? Robin Norwood? Linda Ann Loschiavo? Brené Brown? Pamela Meyer? Anonymous?

**Illustration of a marionette depicting control**

Question for Quote Investigator: The urge to help others usually indicates a generous and loving spirit, but sometimes this urge disguises a desire for power and domination. The following saying highlights this hidden motivation:

Help is the sunny side of control.

This saying has been attributed to writer Anne Lamott, family therapist Robin Norwood, social work expert Brené Brown, and others. Would you please explore the provenance of this remark?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match found by QI appeared within a 1984 article about alcoholism and codependency published in the “Santa Barbara News-Press” of California. The article quoted marriage and family therapist Robin Norwood who employed the saying; however, an unnamed friend received credit for the saying. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Control comes to the addicted person disguised as help. Ms. Norwood agrees with a friend, who told her, “Help is the sunny side of control.”

Here is an overview presenting dates, attributions, and variant phrasings:

1984 Feb: Help is the sunny side of control. (Attributed to unnamed friend by Robin Norwood)

1985: Help is the sunny side of control. (Message on a sign by an unknown creator as described by Robin Norwood in her book “Women Who Love Too Much”)

1987 Jan: Caring is the sunny side of control. (Linda Ann Loschiavo)

2000: Helpfulness is just the bright side of control. (Pamela Meyer)

2012 Apr: Help is the sunny side of control. (Anne Lamott in “Redbook” magazine)

2017 Apr: Help is the sunny side of control. (Anne Lamott in a TED Talk)

2019: Help is the sunny side of control. (Attributed to Anne Lamott by Catherine O’Kane)

Below are details for selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Russia Is Never as Strong, or as Weak, as She Appears

Winston Churchill? Otto von Bismarck? Charles de Talleyrand? Klemens von Metternich? Jozef Pilsudski? Willson Woodside? Seweryn Bialer? Paul Johnson? Thomas L. Friedman? John Lukacs? Anonymous?

**Picture of Moscow at night from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: The Russian government’s actions have repeatedly had far‑reaching effects on the rest of the world. Yet, predicting Russia’s future behavior has always been difficult. Here is a saying which highlights this uncertainty:

Russia is never as strong as she looks; Russia is never as weak as she looks.

This notion has been attributed to German statesman Klemens von Metternich, French diplomat Charles de Talleyrand, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, British statesman Winston Churchill, and others. I am skeptical of all these ascriptions because I have never seen a solid citation. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: This is a difficult statement to trace because it can be expressed in many ways. Here is an overview with dates and attributions:

1946 Jun: Always remember that Russia is never as strong, or as weak, as she appears. (Attributed to unnamed European statesman by Willson Woodside)

1949 Oct: Russia is never as strong and never as weak as she seems. (Attributed to Józef Piłsudski in the “Galway Observer” newspaper of Ireland)

1981 Summer: Russia is never as strong as she looks, Russia is never as weak as she looks. (Attributed to unnamed European statesman by Seweryn Bialer)

1983: Russia is never as strong as she looks. Russia is never as weak as she looks. (Called a wise diplomatic saying by Paul Johnson)

1985 Feb: Russia is never as strong — and never as weak — as she looks. (Attributed to French ambassador to imperial St Petersburg by Graham Barrett)

1991 Sep: Russia is never as strong or as weak as it appears. (Attributed to Otto von Bismarck by Thomas L. Friedman)

1992 Feb: Russia is never as strong, or as weak, as it might seem. (Attributed to Otto von Bismarck by John Lukacs)

1994 Feb: Russia is never as strong as it seems, but it also is never as weak as it seems. (Attributed to Charles de Talleyrand by Bernard D. Kaplan)

1996 Mar: Russia is never as strong as it looks. Russia is never as weak as it looks. (Attributed to Charles de Talleyrand by Paul Johnson)

1999 May: While Russia is never as strong as it looks, it is never as weak as it looks either. (Attributed to Klemens von Metternich by Paul Johnson)

2001 Jul: Russia is never as strong as it seems nor as weak as it seems. (Attributed to Winston Churchill in the “Tulsa World” newspaper of Oklahoma)

The ascriptions to famous historical figures started to appear in the 1990s. The length of this delay indicated that this evidence was very weak. QI has not yet found substantive evidence supporting the attributions to Otto von Bismarck, Charles de Talleyrand, Klemens von Metternich, or Winston Churchill.

On the other hand, QI has focused research on English instances of the expression; hence, it is conceivable that earlier examples appeared in German, French, Polish, or another language. Future researchers may uncover helpful citations.

Below are details for selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Punks Are Basically Nice People Pretending To Be Mean, Whereas Hippies Are Mean People Pretending To Be Nice

Gordon Edgar? John Ross Bowie? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Hippies and punks are two youth subcultures which emerged a decade apart. Both were known for questioning authority, but one wit formulated a cruel comparison. Here are two versions:

Punks are nice people pretending to be mean; hippies are mean people pretending to be nice.

Punks are good people pretending to be bad; hippies are bad people pretending to be good.

Would you please explore the provenance of this saying?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match found by QI appeared in the 2010 book “Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge” by Gordon Edgar. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

A lot of punks say they hate everyone, but a wise friend once said to me that punks are basically nice people pretending to be mean, whereas hippies are mean people pretending to be nice. A working-class anarchist whom I went to college with once interrupted a group of punks talking about the stupidity of “normal people” by saying, “You’re talking about my family.”

The “wise friend” is unnamed; hence, the creator of this saying remains anonymous. QI suspects that earlier citations exist, and future researchers may discover them.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: We Take the Stars from Heaven, the Red from Our Mother Country

George Washington? Augustus Bedford? Peleg D. Harrison? Jane A. Stewart? Apocryphal?

**Illustration of the 13-star Betsy Ross variant U.S. flag**

Question for Quote Investigator: U.S. flags are displayed on holidays such as Flag Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day. One of the founding fathers has received credit for the following symbolism explanation:

We take the stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity, representing our liberty.

These words have been attributed to George Washington, but I am skeptical because I have never seen a solid citation, and the phrasing sounds too modern, i.e., nineteenth or twentieth century. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The U.S. National Archives operates the “Founders Online” website which provides a comprehensive searchable database containing correspondence and other writings from seven Founding Fathers including George Washington who died in 1799.¹ QI was unable to find any matching documents in this database for the quotation under examination.

Hence, QI performed a broader search. The earliest match appeared in “The American Almanac, Year-Book, Cyclopedia and Atlas of 1903”. The copyright date of this book was 1902 because it was assembled in 1902 for the succeeding year. The almanac was published by the New York American and Journal, Hearst’s Chicago American, and the San Francisco Examiner. The quotation occurred within an article titled “Flag of the United States; Its 125th Anniversary” by Augustus Bedford. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:²

It has often been said in orations that the red meant valor, the white purity, and the blue loyalty, but Washington gave us a sentiment that is even grander. Gazing upon it, he said:

“We take the star from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty.”

QI does not know where Augustus Bedford obtained this quotation. Bedford did not provide a supporting citation. The lengthy period between the death of George Washington and the emergence of this quotation undercuts the attribution to Washington. Thus, the identity of the creator remains anonymous. QI hopes that future researchers will discover illuminating citations.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.