Frank Lloyd Wright? John Mason Brown? Henri Peyre? Fred Allen? Dick Cavett? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The most acerbic criticism I have heard directed at TV was attributed to the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright: Television is just chewing gum for the eyes. However, I recently saw the remark credited to a drama critic named …
Monthly Archives: November 2013
I Have Been Laid Up With Intentional Flu
Samuel Goldwyn? Ted Robinson? Nine-Year-Old in Cleveland Heights? Jake ‘Malaprop’ Mintz? Dear Quote Investigator: It is flu season, and when a co-worker called in sick recently a friend said that he probably had the “intentional flu”. I had never heard this wordplay on “intestinal flu” before, but my knowledgeable friend stated that this quip originated …
I Had to Get Up to Answer the Phone Anyway
Yogi Berra? Desi Arnaz? Carl Brandt? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following anecdote is told about baseball great Yogi Berra. He received a telephone call very early in the morning, and the caller apologetically said, “I hope I didn’t wake you.” Yogi replied: Nah, I had to get up to answer the phone anyway. Is …
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It’s Never Too Late To Be What You Might Have Been
George Eliot? Adelaide Anne Procter? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: My favorite quotation about untapped potential and enduring spirit is attributed to the prominent Victorian novelist George Eliot: It is never too late to be what you might have been. This popular saying has been printed on refrigerator magnets, posters, shirts, and key chains. But …
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‘Dog Bites a Man’ Is Not News. ‘Man Bites a Dog’ Is News
John B. Bogart? Charles A. Dana? Amos Cummings? Horace Greeley? Jesse Lynch Williams? Billy Woods? Doc Wood? Alfred Harmsworth? Lord Northcliffe? Joseph Pulitzer? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Would you please explore one of the most famous maxims in the news business? Legend states that a neophyte reporter asked a sage editor to define “news”, and …
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There Are Two Kinds of People, Those Who Do the Work and Those Who Take the Credit
Indira Gandhi? Dwight Morrow? Harold Nicolson? Father Kemper? Motilal Nehru? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Indira Gandhi was the powerful Prime Minister of India for more than fifteen years. I have heard the following words which combine the serious and the comical attributed to her: There are two kinds of people, those who do the work …
Hit ‘Em Hard, They’ll Land Somewhere
Bobby Jones? Stewart Maiden? Harvey Penick? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Sometimes a golfer who is looking down a narrow fairway becomes overly cautious when striking the ball. The resulting golf shot travels off course or is too short. There is a popular piece of advice to counter this self-defeating tentative behavior. Here are three versions: …
We Can Complain Because Rose Bushes Have Thorns, or Rejoice Because Thorn Bushes Have Roses
Abraham Lincoln? Alphonse Karr? B. Fay Mills? Roe Fulkerson? J. Kenfield Morley? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular quotation about achieving the proper perspective on life is often attributed to Abraham Lincoln: We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses. Optimistic and pessimistic viewpoints are ingeniously contrasted in …
Believe Those Who Are Seeking the Truth; Doubt Those Who Find It
Václav Havel? André Gide? François Truffaut? Marcel Proust? John Dingell Sr.? Luis Buñuel? Amanda Palmer? Voltaire? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a provocative saying about leadership, discipleship, and the search for truth that is commonly attributed to the Czech statesman Václav Havel who passed away in 2011. Here are two versions: Follow the man …
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Reorganizing is a Wonderful Method for Creating the Illusion of Progress while Actually Producing Confusion, Inefficiency, and Demoralization
Gaius Petronius Arbiter? Robert Townsend? Charlton Ogburn Jr.? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A famous book about management titled “Up the Organization: How to Stop the Corporation from Stifling People and Strangling Profits” contains a very funny and insightful quotation about reorganization:[1]1970, Up the Organization: How to Stop the Corporation from Stifling People and Strangling Profits …