A Quotable Quiz – With Answer
Key
Great leaders are able to think
across boundaries. They search
far-and-wide for new reading material to enhance their intellectual
breadth. A familiarity with the
great thinkers and personalities of history allows one to enjoy conversation
with people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds.
How well-read are you? Can you identify who said the following
famous (or not-so-famous) quotes from history and literature? Test your mettle against the wit and
wisdom of these prolific pontificators.
Match each profundity with the right “who said it”. You may check your answers on my website
www.makingitwork.com.
1.
“What is to give life
must endure burning.”
a.
The Reverend Louis
Farrakhan
b.
Jesus
Christ
c.
Viktor
Frankl
d.
Mel Gibson
(Holocaust
survivor, Austrian psychologist Viktor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for
Meaning.)
2.
“We will have to
repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the
bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good
people.”
a.
President George W.
Bush
b.
French President
Jacques Chirac
c.
UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan
d.
Dr. Martin Luther
King
(Dr. Martin Luther King, “Letter
from Birmingham Jail,” April 16th, 1963)
3.
“I will praise any man
that will praise me.”
a.
William
Shakespeare
b.
Keith
Richards
c.
Michael
Jackson
d.
(William Shakespeare,
4.
"Demoralize the enemy
from within by surprise, terror, sabotage, assassination. This is the war of the
future."
a.
Osama Bin
Laden
b.
Yasser
Arafat
c.
Saddam
Hussein
d.
Adolph
Hitler
(Adolph
Hitler)
5.
"To succeed in the
world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be
well-mannered."
a.
Martin
Sheen
b.
Jennifer
Anniston
c.
Voltaire
d.
Michael Moore
(Voltaire)
6.
“An error does not
become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error
because nobody sees it.”
a.
Senator John
Kerry
b.
Mahatma
Gandhi
c.
Representative Nancy
Pelosi
d.
Senator Edward
Kennedy
(Mahatma Gandhi, per Sisella
Bok)
7.
“We dare not tempt
them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be
certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.”
a.
Senator Barry
Goldwater
b.
President George W.
Bush
c.
President John F.
Kennedy
d.
Dictator Joseph
Stalin
(President John F. Kennedy,
Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961)
8.
“I have the true
feeling of myself only when I am unbearably unhappy.”
a.
Mark
Twain
b.
Dr. Howard
Dean
c.
Franz
Kafka
d.
Rosie
O’Donnell
(Franz Kafka
(1883-1924) Czech novelist. Diaries)
9.
“Nobody can understand this country
without understanding the African American experience.”
a.
The Reverend Jesse
Jackson
b.
President George W.
Bush
c.
Representative Sheila
Jackson Lee
d.
Dr. Martin Luther
King
(President George W. Bush, Radio
Address,
10. "Words build bridges into unexplored
regions."
a.
Ralph Waldo
Emerson
b.
Senator Hillary Rodham
Clinton
c.
The Poet Maya
Angelou
d.
Adolph
Hitler
(Adolph
Hitler)
11. ‘No government
can love a child, and no policy can substitute for a family's
care.”
a.
The Reverend Jerry
Fallwell
b.
Senator Hillary Rodham
Clinton
c.
The Reverend Pat
Robertson
d.
Dr. James
Dobson
(New York Senator Hillary Rodham
Clinton,
12. “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in
politics is that you end up being governed by your
inferiors.”
a.
Mark
Twain
b.
Will
c.
Winston
Churchill
d.
Plato
(Plato, as quoted by Des
MacHale, Wisdom,
13. “The less people know about what is really going on, the
easier it is to wield power and authority.”
a.
Vice President Dick
Cheney
b.
Dan
Rather
c.
Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld
d.
Prince
Charles
(Prince Charles)
14. “The business of
a.
Enron CEO Kenneth
Lay
b.
General Motors CEO
Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.
c.
President Calvin
Coolidge
d.
Ford CEO Henry Ford
II
(Calvin Coolidge)
15. “In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter
enjoy.”
a.
Buddha
b.
Mahatma
Gandhi
c.
William
Blake
d.
Confucius
(British poet William Blake (1757
– 1827), The Marriage of Heaven and
Hell, ‘Proverbs of Hell’)
16. “To love oneself is the beginning
of a lifelong romance.”
a.
Whitney
Huston
b.
Anthony
Robbins
c.
Dr. Phil
McGraw
d.
Oscar
Wilde
(Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband, III.)
17. “Immature poets imitate; mature poets
steal.”
a.
T.S.
Eliot
b.
Robert
Frost
c.
Maya
Angelou
d.
G. K.
Chesterton
(US-born British poet and
dramatist T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) Philip
Massinger)
18. “The hardest thing in the world to understand, is income tax.”
a.
Representative Dick
Armey
b.
President George W.
Bush
c.
Economist Robert J.
Samuelson
d.
Physicist Albert
Einstein
(German-born US physicist Albert
Einstein (1879-1955))
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