Who Said That? - Quotes of Yesteryear [4] Quiz

Answer: Rabindranath Tagore

An Indian poet, philosopher, and Nobel laureate, Tagore wrote mostly in Bengali, but translated many of his own works to English. When he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, he became the first non-European to receive the award. Tagore's works spanned more than just poetry, however, as he was an accomplished creative mind and prolific visual artist.

Part of Tagore's significance stems from his tact with evocative lyricism, much of which examined the political and social feelings of the then up-and-coming Bengal Renaissance. With more voices denouncing the British Raj, his works came into prominence at a time of great societal reshaping in India.

Answer: Plato

Found in Plato's longest work, "The Laws" (or "Nómoi"), this quote is very much a variation on the "you need to walk before you can learn to run" adage, suggesting that it takes wisdom and discipline to be a good leader. "The Laws", which discusses the philosophical establishment of law, is considered a classic in the canon of political philosophy. He happened to write it while in prison.

Plato, who lived in Ancient Greece around 400 BCE, has foundational concepts and philosophies that are still taught and form bases of understanding even today. He was taught by Socrates and he was the mentor of Aristotle, both of whom were similarly integral to the field.

Answer: John F. Kennedy

The thirty-fifth President of the United States, it was John F. Kennedy who leveraged this rhetoric to turn American identity inward upon taking office in 1961. The speech in which this was said has since become one of the most famous Presidential speeches in U.S. history, empowering Americans during the height of the Cold War in speaking to a need for duty in citizenry.

The first Roman Catholic President of the United States, Kennedy has since been known for his high approval rating as a former President. He remained in his position until his assassination in 1963 at which point he was succeeded by his Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson.

Answer: Thomas Mann

The winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929, Mann was considered one of the most important literary figures hailing from Germany in the 20th century. A survivor of both World Wars, Mann's works were highly philosophical, even though many of his novels leaned harder into magical realism and modernized fairy tales than most of his contemporaries.

Notably, Mann fled Germany before the rise of Hitler's regime in the 1930s, choosing to reside in the United States through most of World War II, due in part to his proclivity towards homosexuality and his outspokenness against Hitler. He joined Erich Maria Remarque and Stefan Zweig, amongst others, as Exilliteratur during this time. He passed away in 1955 in Switzerland.

Answer: Cato the Elder

A Roman senator, Cato the Elder was known for his staunch and conservative views that respected the preservation of the empire's early tenets and social mores, but while the inevitability of change was on its way for Rome (especially with the reign of Julius Caesar to come), he made himself a key figure in both maintaining Rome's aqueducts and public services and in preserving Roman history, being an accomplished historical writer.

Notably, Cato ended nearly every public speech with the words "Carthago delenda est, or "Carthage must be destroyed."

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi

A key figure in India at the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th, Mahatma Gandhi started his career in law and proceeded to become one of the foremost faces in support of non-violent political resistance as the nation edged closer to independence. Noted for his spirituality, Gandhi's name has since become synonymous with wisdom and civil rights.

Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, a year after the British Raj was partitioned. He remains one of the most recognizable Indian men of the modern era.

Answer: Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The 32nd President of the United States, FDR served longest in that role, doing so across four terms between 1933 and 1945 when he passed away. Managing to guide the United States through the Great Depression and the bulk of the Second World War, Roosevelt entered politics in the 1910s, eventually became Governor of New York, and transitioned to a successful presidential campaign, beating incumbent Republican President Herbert Hoover.

When Roosevelt gave his first inaugural speech he was quoting Henry David Thoreau, loosely, when he gave the "fear itself" quote, stating "[...] Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days."

Answer: Henri Matisse

Although Fauvism was a short-term trend in French art, emerging in the 1900s, it was a key style that helped shape the years to come, bringing artists like Matisse, Picasso, and their contemporaries to the forefront. The group would go on to reject the ideals of the late Victorian Era, leading to an artistic shift into Modernism.

While Picasso's art would become highly imaginative, Matisse was known for more natural, less surreal works. Both, however, would be known for brash colourization, a noted departure from earlier ideals in painting. He would continue to be active in the art world until his death in 1954.

Answer: Thomas Watson

Thomas J. Watson, then the President of IBM, made himself one of the richest men in the world while he pushed the business to become one of the most profitable during World War II, working on behalf of both sides while advancing technology in new ways. He couldn't, and didn't, foresee that computers would become as ubiquitous as they are, but then again, the punch-card machines of his day weren't anywhere near as powerful (and compact) as they are today.

Despite his perhaps dubious past, Watson's name would be used for the IBM Watson system-- the one that Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter faced off against on "Jeopardy!" in 2011. The computer won.

Answer: Steve Martin

Although silly on the surface, Martin's quote here begets a bit of a deeper meaning when thinking about levity and positivity, and it's unsurprising that he's been celebrated as an entertainer since his early work in the industry in the late 1960s. A celebrated comedian, actor (in film and TV and on Broadway), musician, and writer, Steve Martin's career has resulted in not only Emmy Awards, an Honorary Oscar, and Grammy wins, but some of the highest achievements in his field; he was celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007 and he won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2005.