Who Said That? - Quotes of Yesteryear [5] Quiz

Answer: Oscar Wilde

Written for 'Blackwood's Magazine', "The Portrait of Mr. W. H." mused on the truth of whether or not a man by the name of Willie Hughes, who wrote a book of sonnets, was real or fake to the extent that people in the story killed themselves in their convictions. Though Wilde's work leaves the truth open to interpretation, the quote is a sound one in its own claim. Adamance over an ideology does not aid in its validity and, in fact, stands aside from truth.

Oscar Wilde, the famous Irish writer from the later Victorian Era, was one of the more successful artistic personalities of his day. His most famous work was, of course, "The Picture of Dorian Gray". He passed away, of meningitis, in 1900. Queen Victoria would pass away three months later, ending the era shortly after.

Answer: Helen Keller

Keller, quoted in 'Sundry Interviews' (A Magazet), actually said "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. It's what the sunflowers do." Naturally, the imagery and message here point to optimism and avoidance of the darkness.

Notably, Helen Keller was born deaf and blind, so while one might take the quote as an ironic one, it's only through perseverance that she was able to find success in her life. Taught by Anne Sullivan, Keller eventually became an accomplished writer and public speaker. She passed away in 1968 at the age of 87.

Answer: Mark Twain

While all four of these answers were American authors, only one of them lived up to 1896 (and into the 20th century), and that was Samuel Longhorne Clemens (better known by the pen name Mark Twain).

An accomplished writer and humorist, Twain was one of the defining voices in American literary works in the late 19th century, having written stories featuring Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and novels such as "The Prince and the Pauper" and "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court". He passed away in 1910.

Answer: Thomas Huxley

A supporter and contemporary of Charles Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley came up in a time of great scientific advancement, especially when considering biology and evolutionism. Starting his career in paleontology, his career pushed deeper into the sciences and academia to the point that he was a leading figure in the Victorian Era's interest in scientific progress. Though initially skeptical of some of Darwin's findings, his gradual understanding of natural selection (and his eventual championing of it) led him to become close with the famous scientist, even becoming a pallbearer at his funeral.

A member of the X Club, his efforts to advance science wouldn't go unnoticed. His future pupil, H. G. Wells, would become a key figure in literary science fiction with stories like "The Time Machine" and "The Island of Doctor Moreau", the latter of which directly spun off from Huxley's studies.

Answer: Samuel Johnson

A man who dabbled in all forms of writing during their height of his career in the mid-to-late 18th century, Samuel Johnson was Oxford-educated and contributed not only to a great canon of performed works, but spent nearly a decade writing "A Dictionary of the English Language", the preeminent authority on English definition until Oxford's own.

The quote, one of brevity, is quite a simple message, implying that greed leads not to wealth, but poverty; there is no fulfillment to be had from the accumulation of wealth. Johnson, despite being a very popular figure in the literary world at the time (and influential to many who came after him), didn't come up in wealth. Instead, he was born to a bookseller in Staffordshire.

Answer: Horace Greeley

A phrase said all too much over time, "Common sense is very uncommon" comes from the simple understanding that despite the obvious, people simply won't get it. Horace Greeley, perhaps, saw this first-hand on a regular basis, not only in creating and becoming the chief editor of the "New-York Tribune", but in being a famous figure in early U.S. politics. Greeley was a New York congressman and faced off in the Presidential elections in 1872, losing (by a wide margin) to Ulysses S. Grant. It was probably for the best-- Greeley died that year.

Interestingly, Greeley isn't the only answer here to be tied to a newspaper. Alexander Hamilton (yes, that Alexander Hamilton) founded the "New York Post".

Answer: Pablo Picasso

Picasso's belief that anything that exists in the mind is, technically, real, is perhaps best illustrated by...well...himself. Picasso was particularly famous for his visual artistry which, over time, progressed from realist works to the exceedingly surrealist. By the time the 1930s rolled around and Picasso transitioned through his Blue Period, his Rose Period, and Cubism, he'd shifted through many stages of radical and modern art that seemed like they would have highly contrasted the then-current Modernist approach to creative works. In fact, they highlighted a Modernist approach, rejecting a sense of artifice by playing with form.

Picasso has since been regarded as one of the most influential Spanish artists of all time. He passed away in 1973, leaving a legacy of popular artworks.

Answer: Michelle Obama

An empowering First Lady who lived in the White House from 2008-2016, Michelle Obama became one of the most influential women in the American political sphere while her husband, Barack Obama, was President for two terms, and shortly after this time, in 2018, she released her best-selling memoir, "Becoming". One of the year's best-selling books overall, the subsequent audiobook would win Obama the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album.

Born in Chicago, Michelle's life and education would take her to both Harvard and Princeton. Though she practiced law into the 1990s she eventually fell into work in the public sector, transitioning into work with the University of Chicago before joining her husband in Washington D.C. Her time in the White House was notably a busy one, leasing her to be a key public figure for various societal causes.

Answer: John Lasseter

The former Chief Creative Officer at Pixar Animation Studios (though also employed by Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm during his career), John Lasseter was part of the wave of animation figures for helped usher CGI animation into mainstream film, leading the studio in releasing movies like "Toy Story" and "A Bug's Life" in the 1990s.

It might be unsurprising to see a quote like his in relation to the work. While Disney saw a renaissance in traditional (and computer-assisted) animation in the 1990s, it was only through the harnessing of computer application that Pixar was able to thrive and lead filmmakers to spread their wings heading into the new century. Lasseter departed from Disney in 2018, forming Skydance Animation.

Answer: Will Rogers

Will Rogers came up in cinema during the Silent Era and proceeded into the talkies in the 1930s, becoming one of the most famous faces in Hollywood by the time of his passing (in an aviation-related death) in 1935. Eventually an outspoken figure who tore down most politics going into the Great Depression, Rogers was perhaps better-known for his comedy; he was a notable humorist who came up in the entertainment space through vaudeville.

His quote here is indicative of his comedy style. Though Rogers seemed to have something to say about everyone, he was often quite well-regarded for his inoffensive, though still witty approach to comedy.