Questions tagged [quotes]

Use this tag when the question is about whether someone said or wrote a quote.

The repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts.

This tag is appropriate for questions where the authenticity of a quote is being questioned rather than questions where a quotation is the source of a claim. In other words, the underlying claim is about the authenticity of the quote itself rather than any claims made within the quotation.

Example appropriate questions for the tag
  • Famous Person X claims in his recent book that Famous Person Y gave a speech claiming that the sky is green. Did Famous Person Y really give a speech in which he claimed that the sky is green?
  • Smith (2019), in a paper published in Science, claims that his assertion that "x is bounded by the lesser hyperbola when n < 3" is a quotation from a paper by Johnson (1995), but I cannot find this paper anywhere. Does it really exist and does it in fact contain the claimed mathematical assertion?
Example inappropriate questions for the tag (choose a more appropriate tag)
  • Famous Person Y claims that the sky is green, is it really green?
  • A paper by Johnson (1995) claims that "x is bounded by the lesser hyperbola when n < 3". Is x actually so bounded? The proof that Johnson provides appears very specious, and I have these specific concerns about it specifically....
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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 third world war will be fought with, but I know…
Sakib Arifin
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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 for it. Two examples for where it's used:…
tim
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Did Amin al-Husaini say, "slaughter Jews wherever you find them"?

Mohammed Amin al-Husseini (1897-1974) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine. He was appointed as the grand Mufti of Jerusalem in 1921 by the British High Commissioner to shill for the British Colonial Empire.…
Sakib Arifin
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Did "Antifa in Portland" issue an "anonymous tip" in Nov that John E. Sullivan be “locked out” of their circles because he is "agent provocateur"?

A Jan 15 OpIndia article says: On the 23rd of November 2020, Antifa in Portland is said to have issued an ‘anonymous tip’ demanding that John Sullivan be “locked out” of their circles. “While it’s easier, and generally more fair, to believe he is a…
Fizz
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Did Martin Luther King, Jr. say that "I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy"?

Did Martin Luther King, Jr. say I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy It's been going around the tweeterwebs today in response to Osama bin Laden's death.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Andrew Grimm
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Did Richard Feynman say that if all of mathematics disappeared, physics would be set back by exactly one week?

The following quip is often attributed to the physicist Richard Feynman: If all of mathematics disappeared, physics would be set back by exactly one week. See for example Quote Master, quotefancy, AZ Quotes, or Internet Pillar. But did Feynman…
Timothy Chow
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Did Lincoln say, "When we buy steel made in America, we get the steel and the money too"?

In "Industrial Policy Comes Full Circle" (Dec. 15), Clyde Prestowitz (Wall Street Journal, 2022-12-11, 2022-22-15 print edition p. R17): Lincoln said: "I don't know much about tariffs, but I do know that when we buy steel abroad, the foreigner gets…
user62611
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"The Flat Earth Society has members all around the globe"?

When one googles "The Flat Earth Society has members all around the globe", many images appear. Some of them claim this is a post by the Flat Earth Society itself, such as this one: I wonder if this is for real, i.e.: Did the Flat Earth Society…
yo'
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Did Margaret Sanger say "Colored people are like human weeds and are to be exterminated"?

This picture recently showed up on my facebook news-feed. "Colored people are like human weeds and are to be exterminated." - Margaret Sanger, Founder of Planned Parenthood. "I admire Margaret Sanger enormously, her courage, her tenacity, her…
DJMcMayhem
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“Don’t take liquor in the bedroom, and don’t stick anything in your ears”

Today’s Guardian says And if your grandkid ever asks for sage advice, just regurgitate Kurt Vonnegut’s: don’t take liquor in the bedroom, and don’t stick anything in your ears. I’m scared of being the granny everyone avoids. How do I get over…
A E
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Have Putin and his family stolen $300 billion or more from Russians?

During the debates held in the House of Commons on 14th March 2018 about the alleged poisoning of Russian spy Skripal in Salisbury, U.K. Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Thomas Tugendhat said (emphasis mine): Will the Prime Minister also…
Be Brave Be Like Ukraine
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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 a number of sites that ascribe it to Ulysses S.…
choster
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Einstein: "Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind."

This quote is attributed to Einstein. Did he say it?
Der Übermensch
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Was everything Hitler did in Germany legal?

"Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal." -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Is Martin Luther King right? Was Hitler "clean" (cannot be charged under the then-law) in the eyes of the law? If the question is too broad (if…
Jesvin Jose
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Was George Washington the source of this quote equating government gun control with evil intentions?

The latest gun advocacy rhetoric I've seen includes this quote, attributed to George Washington: When any nation mistrusts its citizens with guns it is sending a clear message. It no longer trusts its citizens because such a government has evil…
Beofett
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