Trivia: The Grand Ole Opry

TODAY'S MYSTERY QUOTE

QUOTE: "Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body."
HINT: (1809-1894), American physician, poet, professor, lecturer, and author.

RANDOM TIDBITS

Ryman Auditorium was long the home of the Grande Ole Opry, but the structure wasn't originally built for that purpose. When it opened in 1892, it was called the Union Gospel Tabernacle.
In 1950, a young man took the stage at the Grand Ole Opry and exhibited the banjo prowess that allowed him to win a national competition on the instrument. That 17-year-old was future Hee-Haw star Roy Clark.
The radio show known as The Grand Ole Opry began life in 1925 as the WSM Barn Dance. A couple years later, when announcer George "Judge" Hay described the show's music as "grand ole opry" in contrast to "grand opera," the name stuck.
Many of the most popular women ever to perform at the Grand Ole Opry aren't as recognizable by their real names. This list includes Sarah Cannon (Minnie Pearl), Christina Ciminella (Wynonna Judd), Eileen Edwards (Shania Twain), Mary Penick (Skeeter Davis), and Brenda Webb (Crystal Gayle).
NWhen the show moved to the Opry House at Opryland in 1974, workers cut out a circular, 6-foot section of the original dark oak stage at Ryman Auditorium and installed it in the middle of the new stage floor so that new artists could perform on the same floor as legends from decades past.
Elvis Presley signed a contract to play a series of shows at the Grand Ole Opry beginning on October 2, 1954. However, management cancelled his booking after his first show because they felt his music wasn't suited for their audiences. The King never returned to the Opry stage.
QUOTE: "Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body."
ANSWER: Oliver Wendell Holmes.