Match the Quote Trivia Quiz

Answer: Carl Sagan

There were two Carl Sagans. One was a dedicated scientist, author or co-author of dozens on scholarly books as well hundreds of articles. The other was a skilled communicator who brought science to the masses. His television program "Cosmos" (1980) was a landmark exploration of science.

He also penned three novels. One of which "Contact" (1997) was adapted for the screen explored the possibilities of alien life.

Answer: Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre was a French philosopher, novelist, playwright, and critic. He explored the world of existentialism, that dealt with the nature of human life and the structures of consciousness. He refused the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964.

Answer: Amy Schumer

Amy Schumer is a curvaceous blonde stand-up comic and actress. Her break-though on television was "Inside Amy Schumer" (2013-2016) for which she received the coveted Peabody Award. Admittedly, the show had a strong femininist twist but did satire subjects that were considered taboo.

Her core humor is often personal such as weight, sexuality, and gender equality. Her first movie, "Trainwreck" (2015) grossed $140 million on a budget of 35 million.

Answer: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger began as a body builder that morphed into a film career mostly as an action star. In the wide open California primary of 2003, 154 candidates were on the ballot with Schwarzenegger emerging finally as Governor. He won a second term and served until 2011 in spite of some bad press.

In 2012, Schwarzenegger founded the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy and returned to his film career.

Answer: Sir Walter Scott

Sir Walter Scott was a public employee who wrote novels and poetry. Several of his novels are considered classics such as "Ivanhoe" (1819), "Lady of the Lake" (1810), "Rob Roy" (1817), "Waverly" (1814),and "Quinton Durwood" (1823). In recent years academics had lowered their estimates of his novels' importance but his writings often have kept alive by film adaptations.

Answer: Jerry Seinfeld

"Seinfeld" ran from 1989-1998 and was proclaimed as a 'series about nothing'. It was developed by Seinfeld and Larry David. Seinfeld starred as a comedian interacting with his friends about trivial but irritating things such as your favorite soup maker won't serve you or when your girl friend is a 'low speaker'.
Larry David was to expand the concept in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2000-?).

Answer: Rod Serling

Rod Serling was a screenwriter, playwright, and television producer. He is most remembered for his introductions to the anthology series "Twilight Zone" (1959-1964). It was an innovative series that broke barriers to traditional television fare.

Answer: William Shakespeare

Shakespeare placed these words in Richard III's soliloquy in "Richard III" (1595?) that introduces the play. Basically it says that things are optimistic for the future after hard times and lays groundwork for Richard as a discontented man who is unhappy in a world that hates him. He goes on to talk about his grudges.

Answer: Neil Simon

Neil Simon was one the most successful playwrights of our era. He registered 32 Broadway plays, 27 screenplays, and worked a writer on 5 television series. Many times he wrote the screen adaptations of his plays. He was awarded the Pulizer in 1991 for his play "Lost in Yonkers".

Among his numerous plays are "The Odd Couple" (1965) and my favorite, "Chapter Two" (1977). Screenplays include "The Out-of-Towners" (1970) and again my favorite, "The Goodbye Girl" (1977).

Simon was criticized that is plays were a parade of one-liners perhaps from his apprenticeship writing for Sid Caesar, Garry Moore, and Phil Silvers.

Answer: B.F. Skinner

In 2002 B. F. Skinner was named the most influential psychologist of the 20th century by his peers. Building on the stimulus/response work of Pavlov, Skinner updated those basic principles and created a new science called behavioral psychology. Operant conditioning is behavior influenced by the consequences that follow.

Skinner's novel, "Walton Two" (1948), is a utopian society that rejects the concept of both free will and divine intervention. "Walden Two" proposes that behavior of organisms, including humans, is determined by environmental variables.

"Beyond Freedom and Dignity" (1971) as an attempt to promote Skinner's philosophy of science, the technology of human behavior, his conception of determinism, and what Skinner calls "cultural engineering".