• About
    • About the FIA
    • Priorities
    • Our Team
    • Brainstorming Board
    • Partners and Affiliates
    • Contact Us
  • News + Events
    • News
    • Events
    • Videos
    • Newsletters
    • @FIAumd
    • In the Media
  • Spark Grants
    • Spark Grants Overview
    • Spark Grants FAQ
    • 2012-2015 Seed Grants
    • 2012-2015 Seed Grant Winners
  • Special Topics
    • SearchReSearch
    • Curated Topics
FIA

SearchReSearch

SearchResearch Challenge (3/3/17): Looking up quotes

Dan Russell • March 3, 2017
 SearchReSearch
Republished with permission from SearchReSearch
SearchResearch Challenge (3/3/17): Looking up quotes Dan Russell
It used to be that quotations were pretty easy.

If you heard a quote you liked, you looked for it in one of those big books of quotations (such as Bartlett's Familiar Quotations or the Yale Book of Quotations), and if it wasn't in there, only the brave or intrepid would keep searching.

Luckily, there are both brave and intrepid souls in the world, and they've made pretty massive collections of quotes... and their attributions.

Now, of course, we have internet searching--which effectively opens up a LOT of books for access.... as well as a good deal of fake quotes, incorrect attributions, and general nonsense.

Here's a good one in that vein:



And as we learned in this week's post about 18th century fake news, it's sometimes hard to figure out who said something, especially if they're trying to cover their tracks!

So this week, we'll tackle this topic head on, and see if we can't run down some famous quotes and figure out who actually said (or wrote) them in the first place.

1. Did Tom Peters, the guru of excellence, really say "The best search one can do today is the search for excellence"?
2. Did Mark Twain say that one should "Put All Your Eggs in One Basket, and then watch that basket"?
3. Who said that "College contains daily exercises in delayed gratification. 'Discuss early modern European print culture”'will never beat 'Sing karaoke with friends' in a straight fight, but in the long run, having a passable Rhianna impression will be a less useful than understanding how media revolutions unfold"?
4. (Extra credit) Who said or wrote that "It is better than 1000 guilty persons should escape than one innocent suffer"?

As always, we're interested not just in the answer, but HOW you figured these out. What special machinations of your brain and mind did you suffer to get to the bottom of the barrel of sources?

What tips and tricks should one know when seeking out the truth about original sayings?

Teach us, and we'll all know!

Search for those quotes. Or as I always say (although it did not originate with me):

"Search on!"

Share

Comments

This post was republished. Comments can be viewed and shared via the original site.
21 comments

About the Author

Dan RussellDan Russell

I study the way people search and research. I guess that makes me an anthropologist of search. While I work at Google, my blog and G+ posts reflects my own thoughts and not those of my employer. I am FIA's Future-ist in Residence. More »

Recent News

  • Deepfakes and the Future of Facts
    Deepfakes and the Future of FactsSeptember 27, 2019
  • Book cover for Joy of Search by Daniel M. Russell
    The Joy of Search: A Google Insider’s Guide to Going Beyond the BasicsSeptember 26, 2019
  • The Future of Facts in a ‘Post-Truth’ World
    The Future of Facts in a ‘Post-Truth’ WorldMay 15, 2018
  • The Future of Virtual and Augmented Reality and Immersive Storytelling
    The Future of Virtual and Augmented Reality and Immersive StorytellingJune 6, 2017

More »

Upcoming Events

There are no upcoming events scheduled. Please check back later.
Event Archive »
Video Archive »

Join Email List

SearchReSearch

  • SearchResearch Challenge (3/22/23):  What do you call the sediment that blocks a river from flowing to the sea?
    SearchResearch Challenge (3/22/23): What do you call the sediment that blocks a river from flowing to the sea?March 22, 2023
  • Answer: What do these everyday symbols mean?
    Answer: What do these everyday symbols mean?March 15, 2023
  • SearchResearch Challenge (3/8/23): What do these everyday symbols mean?
    SearchResearch Challenge (3/8/23): What do these everyday symbols mean?March 8, 2023
  • PSA:  Read Clive Thompson’s article about how he does research
    PSA: Read Clive Thompson’s article about how he does researchMarch 3, 2023

More »

University of Maryland logo
Robert W. Deutsch Foundation logo
Google logo
Barrie School
Library of Congress logo
State of Maryland logo
National Archives logo
National Geographic Society logo
National Park Service logo
Newseum logo
Sesame Workshop logo
Smithsonian logo
WAMU
© 2023 The Future of Information Alliance, University of Maryland | Privacy Policy | Web Accessibility