A correspondence corner for not-so-famous lost words

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Carol Ochs seeks a citation for “All science, all religion began with the innovator, the nonconformist, the heretic.” She writes, “In the 1950s, it was on the front cover of the Sunday New York Times Book Review with a photo of a sculpture of a hand reaching up.”

Thomas Burrows hopes, after a half-century of searching, that someone can provide him with the source of the following assertion, delivered by Professor Frank Moore Cross during an elementary Hebrew course: “It was a saying of the ancient rabbis that you may as well learn Hebrew now because you will need it in the world to come.”

George Bason wishes to know who first declared, “Lazy people take the most pains,” and what he or she meant by it.

More queries from the archives:

“Words are walls between us / Difficult to scale— / Guardians of self / That make a jail.”

“Elephants coming two by two each as big as a launch in tow…”

“Memory is an old woman who saves dirty rags and throws away pearls and diamonds.”

“Admit impediments” (September-October). Thomas Ehrlich was the first to identify this quotation from the sonnet “Admit impediments” written by Norma (Holzman) Farber, A.M. ’32, in response to Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116.

Send inquiries and answers to “Chapter and Verse,” Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138 or via e-mail to chapterandverse@harvardmag.com.

You might also like

The popular Harvard English professor published Under Water this spring.

Author and Harvard Divinity School writer-in-residence Terry Tempest Williams finds beauty in the world around us.

Shakespeare and Stephen King Have a Lot in Common

Shakespeare scholar Caroline Bicks studies horror and fear in literature. 

Most popular

Harvard scientists identify hundreds of genes under selective pressure.

In her memoir All That's Unseen, Emilee Hackney explores religion, friendship, and home.

Alex Dumas, inspiration for "The Count of Monte Cristo," by Tom Reiss

Brief life of the soldier who inspired The Count of Monte Cristo: 1762-1806

Explore More From Current Issue

Two figures stand before a large, colorful pixelated face against a yellow background.

Harvard scientists identify hundreds of genes under selective pressure.

Massachusetts Hall at Harvard Red brick building with a large clock on top, surrounded by green trees.

With a grade inflation vote and in the courts, the University argued that it’s taking steps to change.

A chaotic scene in a messy room with people engaging in various activities, some cleaning.

Until the 1950s, professionals cleaned up after students in the dorms.