Tracing Quotations
Thomas Edison? Henry Dodd? Isaiah Hale? Paul Larmer? Lila Kroppmann? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following quote is credited to Thomas Edison: Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. Do you know when he said this and to whom? Quote Investigator: Both QI and top researcher …
Continue reading “Opportunity Is Missed Because It Is Dressed in Overalls and Looks Like Work”
Mick Jagger? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” is one of their most popular songs. Today lead singer Mick Jagger is almost seventy years old. When he was much younger he supposedly said something like this: (1) I’d rather be dead than singing Satisfaction when I’m forty-five. (2) I’d …
Continue reading “I’d Rather Be Dead than Sing Satisfaction When I’m 45”
Jimi Hendrix? Bob Dawbarn? Chris Welch? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Guitar legend Jimi Hendrix died tragically when he was only 27 years old. Shortly before his death he supposedly said this: It’s funny how most people love the dead. Once you’re dead, you’re made for life. Was this quote created by mythmakers, or did Hendrix …
Earl Wilson? Cy N. Peace? Earl Nelson? Whitt N. Schultz? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I am trying to unearth the source of a quote credited to the columnist Earl Wilson which seems to be everywhere on the web but without a source: Modern man drives a mortgaged car over a bond-financed highway on credit-card gas. …
Continue reading “Modern Man Drives a Mortgaged Car Over a Bond-Financed Highway on Credit-Card Gas”
Gore Vidal? La Rochefoucauld? W. Somerset Maugham? Wilfrid Sheed? Iris Murdoch? David Merrick? Genghis Khan? Larry Ellison? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Competition and jealousy are reflected in a family of closely related cynical sayings: It is not enough to succeed; one’s best friend must fail. It is not enough to succeed; one’s friends must fail. …
Continue reading “It Is Not Enough to Succeed; One’s Best Friend Must Fail”
Speaker: Gore Vidal? Peter Bogdanovich? Sue Mengers? Jason Epstein? Anonymous? Subject: Truman Capote? Elvis Presley? Michael Jackson? Gore Vidal? Dear Quote Investigator: Pop star Michael Jackson died in 2009 when he was only fifty years old. One memorably caustic remark I heard at that time was: His death was a good career move. Apparently, the …
Mohandas Gandhi? L. L. Bean? Kenneth B. Elliott? Great Western Fuel Company? Ray Noyes? Paul T. Babson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a popular business motto that is used by corporate departments of Customer Relations and Human Resources: A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. …
Continue reading “The Customer is Not an Interruption in Our Work; He Is the Purpose of It”
Thomas Edison? Walter S. Mallory? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There are many versions of a popular story about the inventor Thomas Edison. He was working on the creation of a practical light bulb or a new battery. He and his team of researchers conducted a series of unsuccessful experiments. The number of negative laboratory tests …
Continue reading “I Have Gotten a Lot of Results! I Know Several Thousand Things That Won’t Work”
Kenneth Holmes? Frank Crane? Hugh Barrett Dobbs? Sister Mary Xavier? Sybil F. Partridge? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is an inspirational essay called “Just for Today” that I have seen on many websites. It consists of a series of suggestions or guidelines. There are many versions, but one common example begins with the following statements: …
Continue reading “Just for Today, I Will Try to Live Through This Day Only”
Winston Churchill? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: My question is about a quotation spotlighted in a recent news story. Two massive power companies merged and this caused a boardroom battle. The CEO, Bill Johnson, of the combined enterprise was abruptly ousted. Johnson reportedly alienated his new board members by using a saying attributed to Winston Churchill. …
Continue reading “I Am Always Ready to Learn, Although I Do Not Always Like Being Taught”