Tracing Quotations
Yogi Berra? Sol Hurok? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Baseball luminary Yogi Berra is famous for comical pronouncements that contain a kernel of wisdom. One of my favorites is about fan attendance at baseball games: If people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them. Recently, I heard that renowned …
Continue reading “If People Don’t Want to Come, Nothing Will Stop Them”
Orson Welles? Oscar Wilde? James Aswell? Richard Lederer? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The influence of William Shakespeare’s works on the English language has been enormous; consider the following phrases: To thine own self be true It was Greek to me Brevity is the soul of wit To be, or not to be Not a mouse …
Continue reading “Now We Sit Through Shakespeare in Order to Recognize the Quotations”
Scott Adams? Ricky Gervais? Douglas Adams? Anonymous? Quote Investigator: Using creativity to solve a problem or create an artwork requires openness, originality, and imagination. Yet, the process inevitably produces some missteps and gaffes. That is why the following is my favorite quotation: Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to …
Sigmund Freud? William Gibson? @debihope? Anonymous? Dear Quotes Investigator: There is a saying about maintaining emotional health that is both heartfelt and sardonic. The words have been attributed to the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and the award-winning science fiction author William Gibson. Here are two versions: Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, …
Continue reading “Before You Diagnose Yourself with Depression or Low Self-Esteem…”
Dorothy Parker? Lillian Hellman? Ford Model T Label? Frank Sullivan? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The witty author Dorothy Parker was once asked to suggest an epitaph for her tombstone. Over the years she crafted several different candidates, and I am interested in the following saying which can be expressed in multiple ways: If you …
Continue reading “If You Can Read This, You’ve Come Too Close”
Vince Lombardi? Mark Twain? Arthur Brisbane? Vidal Sassoon? Stubby Currence? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is an astute saying about gaining achievements through effort that deftly refers to the alphabetical order of a dictionary. Here are two versions: 1) Success comes before work only in the dictionary. 2) The dictionary is the only place where …
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Dorothy Parker? George R. R. Martin? Frank Norris? Robert Louis Stevenson? Cornelia Otis Skinner? Clive Barnes? Jack Klugman? Gloria Steinem? Hedley Donovan? Dear Quote Investigator: Writing is an arduous task for many skilled authors. There is a popular family of sayings that contrasts the elation of accomplishment with the struggle of composition: 1) I hate …
Continue reading “Don’t Like to Write, But Like Having Written”
Peter Drucker? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: While perusing a book of quotations categorized as outrageous I saw a remark about college education attributed to the famous business guru Peter Drucker: When a subject becomes totally obsolete we make it a required course. I haven’t been able to determine where or when this statement appeared. Is …
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Mark Twain? E. B. White? Katharine S. White? André Maurois? Marty Feldman? Dear Quote Investigator: A cogent simile about the cerebral examination of humor has been attributed to three clever individuals: humorist Mark Twain, children’s author E. B. White, and French author André Maurois. Here are four versions: Analyzing humor is a bit like dissecting …
Continue reading “Humor Can Be Dissected, as a Frog Can, But the Thing Dies in the Process”
Samuel Goldwyn? Herbert Fields? June Provines? Sheilah Graham? Alva Johnston? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn was famous for his creative and idiosyncratic use of the English language. Hollywood legend asserts that Goldwyn participated in a complex, protracted, and tense corporate negotiation in the 1930s. But he was unhappy with the final deal, …