Name the Author of that Quotation 2 Quiz

Answer: William James

William James was an original thinker in the disciplines of physiology, psychology and philosophy. He lived from 1842 to 1910. His father was a celebrated theologian. His brother was Henry James, the novelist. William did pioneering work in the school of philosophy known as pragmatism.

William James' twelve-hundred page masterwork, "The Principles of Psychology" (1890), is a rich blend of physiology, psychology, philosophy, and personal reflection that has given us such ideas as "the stream of thought." This book contains seeds of pragmatism and phenomenology, and influenced generations of thinkers in Europe and America, including Bertrand Russell, John Dewey, and Ludwig Wittgenstein.

In his influential "Pragmatism" (1907), he presents systematically his views about truth, knowledge, reality, religion, and philosophy.

Answer: Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau was a philosopher, close friend to Ralph Waldo Emerson, naturalist, and tax resister. He lived from 1817 to 1862.

Henry grew up very close to his older brother John, who taught school to help pay for Henry's tuition at Harvard. While there, Henry read a small book by his Concord neighbor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Nature." He and his brother taught school for a while but in 1842, John cut himself while shaving and died of lockjaw in his brother's arms, an untimely death which traumatized the 25 year old Henry.

At the age of 28 in 1845, wanting to write his first book, he went to Walden pond and built his cabin on land owned by Emerson.

While at Walden, Thoreau did an incredible amount of reading and writing, yet he also spent much time "sauntering" in nature. He gave a lecture and was imprisoned briefly for not paying his poll tax, but mostly he wrote a book as a memorial to a river trip he had taken with his brother, "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers."

Later Thoreau returned to Concord where he completed his experiment in living and his book called "Walden" about living the simple life close to nature. Unfortunately, few people were interested in purchasing his book, so he spent the next nine years, surveying and making pencils at times but primarily writing and rewriting (creating seven full drafts) "Walden" before trying to publish it. He supported himself by surveying and making a few lectures, often on his experience at Walden pond.

He traveled often, to the Maine woods and to Cape Cod several times, and was particularly interested in the frontier and Indians. He opposed the government for waging the Mexican war (to extend slavery) in "Resistance to Civil Government," based on his brief experience in jail.

He lectured against slavery in an abolitionist lecture, 'Slavery in Massachusetts'. He even supported John Brown's efforts to end slavery after meeting him in Concord.

Answer: Rainer Maria Rilke

The writer and poet Rilke was considered one of the greatest German-language lyric poets. He lived from 1875 to 1926. Born in Prague, he created the "object poem" as an attempt to describe with utmost clarity physical objects. He became famous with such works as "Duineser Elegien" and "Die Sonette an Orpheus." They both appeared in 1923.

In 1913 Rilke went to Paris, but he was forced to return to Germany because of the First World War. Rilke's personal property in France was confiscated during this time of war. He served in the Austrian army and throughout his life turned to various patrons, sometimes visiting their castles and estates.

After 1919 he lived in Switzerland, occupied by his work and roses in his garden. Later in life he regarded Switzerland as his homeland.

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

This proverb comes from Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanac."

In 1733 he started publishing "Poor Richard's Almanack." Almanacs of the era were printed annually, and contained things like weather reports, recipes, predictions and homilies. Franklin published his almanac under the guise of a man named Richard Saunders, a poor man who needed money to take care of his carping wife. What distinguished Franklin's almanac were his witty aphorisms and lively writing. Many of the famous phrases associated with Franklin, such as, "A penny saved is a penny earned" come from "Poor Richard."

Among Franklin's other inventions are swim fins, the glass armonica (a musical instrument) and bifocals. In the early 1750's he turned to the study of electricity. His observations, including his kite experiment which verified the nature of electricity and lightning brought Franklin international fame.

Franklin become a supporter of American colonial unity against Great Britain. He served as the American ambassador to France and also as governor of Pennsylvania.

Answer: Eleanor Roosevelt

Even without her marriage to Franklin D. Roosevelt, through whose presidency she revolutionized the position of first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt very likely would have still become one of the greatest women of the 20th century. As a humanitarian and civic leader (among other roles), she worked for the welfare of youth, black Americans, the poor, and women, at home and abroad. She supported the formation of the United Nations. She lived from 1884 to 1962.

Growing up a lonely and shy girl in wealth and comfort, her marriage to Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) brought her into the world of politics. When her husband was Assistant Secretary of the Navy during World War I, she supported the war effort by volunteering for the Red Cross. She was also an active member of the women's suffrage movement.

She persuaded FDR to create the National Youth Administration (NYA), which provided financial aid to students and job training to young men and women. She worked closely with organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1939 she resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution in protest to their preventing black singer Marian Anderson from performing at Constitution Hall.

After Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office in 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt became a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly, specializing in humanitarian, social, and cultural issues.

Answer: Khalil Gibran

Gibran was a Lebanese-American philosophical essayist, novelist, mystical poet, and artist. Gibran's works were especially influential in the American popular culture in the 1960s.

His poetry has been translated into more than twenty languages. His drawings and paintings have been exhibited in the great capitals of the world. In the United States, which he made his home during the last twenty years of his life, he began to write in English.

In 1904 Gibran had his first art exhibition in Boston. From 1908 to 1910 he studied art in Paris with August Rodin. In 1912 he settled in New York, where he devoted himself to writing and painting. Gibran's early works were written in Arabic, and from 1918 he published mostly in English.

He lived from 1883 to 1931. Among some of his many writings are: "The Prophet," "Sand and Foam," and "Jesus, Son of Man."

Answer: Andre Gide

André Gide (1869-1951) was a French writer. As a child he was often ill and his education at the École Alsacienne was interrupted by long stays in the South of France, where he was instructed by private tutors.

His writings revolved on the unresolved tensions between a strict artistic discipline, a puritanical moralism, and the desire for unlimited sensual indulgence and abandonment to life. A result of Gide's revolt was the unprecedented freedom with which he wrote about sexual matters (including his own homosexuality) in "Corydon" which was privately published in 1911.

Until the 1920's Gide was known chiefly in avant-garde and esoteric literary circles (he was one of the founders of 'La Nouvelle Revue Française'), but in his later years he became a highly influential and controversial figure.

He travelled widely. His trip to the Congo led to a scathing report on economic abuses by French firms and resulted in reforms. If in the thirties Gide put off one part of the public by his sympathies with Communism, his disillusioned report of his journey to Russia scandalized another.

Gide won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1947. Gide left France for Africa in 1942 and lived in Tunis until the end of World War II.

Answer: Will Rogers

The youngest of eight children, William Rogers was born in 1879 at Rogers Ranch in Oologah, Indian Territory (what is now Oklahoma). His parents were partly of Cherokee descent.

While growing up on the family ranch, Will worked with cattle and learned to ride and lasso from a young age. He grew so talented with a rope. He was placed in the Guiness Book of World Records for throwing three lassos at once.

During his years in the vaudeville circuits, as well as his time with Ziegfeld Follies in 1917, Will's act evolved from the exhibition of his lasso skills that had launched his career to the development of his own unique. Will had always regretted quitting school, and enjoyed talking to people and reading. These two interests became the basis for his humor, which focused on intelligent and amusing observations about people, life, the country and the government in simple language that his audience could understand.

In 1918, Will began acting in several silent films. When "talkies" came in, Will became a national star. His several credits in talking films include such titles as "State Fair" (1934). His simple language and country roots appealed to audiences, who saw him as one of their own. Throughout his career, Will starred in 71 films and several Broadway productions. In 1934, he was voted the most popular male actor in Hollywood.

He wrote 4,000 syndicated columns and six books, becoming a prominent radio broadcaster and political commentator. He died tragically in an airplane crash in 1935 in Alaska.

Answer: Buddha

This quotation is the opening line from "The Dhammapada" which contains the early, quintessential teachings of the Buddha. "Dhammapada" means something like "the path of dharma" or the path of truth.

The Buddha is also known as Siddhartha Gautama. He was an Indian prince from a minor kingdom in northern India (modern-day Nepal). He was born sometime around 500 BCE. Disillusioned with his comfortable existence as a prince, he gave up all his possessions and spent six years fasting and meditating in poverty. After such asceticism, he advocated a middle way, meaning moderation in all things. Returning to some more relaxed meditation under a sacred fig tree, he gained enlightenment.

His essential message was: we must free ourselves from desire which is the root of all human suffering. After enlightenment he was known as the Buddha or the Knower. He taught that tranquility is within reach for all beings, but we must free ourselves from desire by acquiring true self-knowledge.

Answer: Margaret Mead

Margaret Mead was arguably the most renowned anthropologist of all time, contributing to the development of the discipline, as well as, introducing its insights to thousands of people outside the academy. Her work continues to contribute to the understanding of people around the world today. A prolific writer, she produced dozens of books and more than 1,000 articles.

Mead focused her research on personality, sexual customs and child upbringing in Samoa, New Guinea and in Bali. From such research she published "Coming of Age in Samoa" in 1928 and "Growing Up in New Guinea" in 1930. In Bali she spearheaded the photographic use of anthropological study and took thousands of photographs of the people of Bali.

She held positions with the American Museum of Natural History and retired as emeritus curator of ethnology in 1969. She died in 1978 and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter.