Tracing Quotations
John Maynard Keynes? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Quotations that were supposedly spoken by famous people shortly before death are notoriously unreliable. I heard that the prominent economist John Maynard Keynes on his deathbed was asked whether he had any regrets, and he said something like: I should have drunk more champagne. I only wish I …
Continue reading “My Only Regret Is That I Have Not Drunk More Champagne In My Life”
Alexander Graham Bell? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The brilliant inventor Alexander Graham Bell helped to create the first practical telephone. He is often credited with the following inspiring statement: Don’t keep forever on the public road. Leave the beaten track behind occasionally and dive into the woods. You will be certain to find something you …
Audrey Hepburn? Sam Levenson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Audrey Hepburn was a magnificent movie star, and she was also a well-known worker for humanitarian causes. On various websites I have seen a collection of sayings called “Time Tested Beauty Tips” that have been attributed to her. The first tip says: For attractive lips, speak words …
Continue reading “For Attractive Lips, Speak Words of Kindness”
Yogi Berra? Simone Signoret? Peter De Vries? Tommy Handley & Ronald Frankau? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Holidays sometimes make me nostalgic. They also remind me of the following clever quip: Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be. These words are often attributed to the famed baseball quotemaster Yogi Berra, but recently I learned of an …
Mark Twain? Albert Bigelow Paine? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Mark Twain formulated a wonderful expression about the fallibility of memory as one grows older. Here is the beginning of his humorous saying: When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not. My own memory may be failing because I think …
Continue reading “When I Was Younger, I Could Remember Anything, Whether It Had Happened or Not”
@AlexeSixx? @_NanooChii? @ Soumi_S? @MissMagdo? @damana? Dear Quote Investigator: I have spent hours playing the quasi-hypnotic computer game Tetris. The following astutely funny remark reveals the subversive lesson of the game: If Tetris has taught me anything, it’s that errors pile up and accomplishments disappear. I have seen this statement tweeted and retweeted many times. …
Mae West? A College Student? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The actress, screenwriter, and sex symbol Mae West was well-known for delivering double entendres. Here are two examples of clever lines with multiple meanings: I was once pure as snow, but then I drifted. I used to be Snow White but I drifted. Did Mae West …
Carol Burnett? Woody Allen? Tig Notaro? Steve Allen? Lenny Bruce? Bob Newhart? Thomas Hardy? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Some humorists are able to transform disastrous or mortifying episodes in their own lives into hilarious comedy routines. Usually some time must pass before a painful memory is distant enough that it can be transmuted into something …
Muhammad Ali? Robert W. Service? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following quotation about perseverance is attributed to the famed boxer Muhammad Ali: It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe. While I was researching this phrase I came across another version that was attributed to the …
Carl Sagan? Albert Durrant Watson? Doris Lessing? Harlow Shapley? Vincent Cronin? Ancient Serbian Proverb? William E. Barton? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The chemical elements of life such as carbon, magnesium, and calcium were originally created in the interior furnaces of stars and then released by stellar explosions. This fact can be expressed with a beautiful …