Margaret Atwood? Ingrid Koenig? Naomi Wolf? Gavin de Becker? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: Each of us experiences different fears. A popular feminist saying presents divergent dreads:
Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them.
This saying has been attributed to prominent Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood, U.S. feminist Naomi Wolf, and U.S. security specialist Gavin de Becker. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In February 1982 Margaret Atwood delivered the Hagey Lecture at Waterloo University in Canada. She formulated an essay titled “Writing the Male Character” based on her speech, and published it in “This Magazine” of Toronto, Canada in September 1982. The essay included a discussion of fear. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
‘Why do men feel threatened by women?’ I asked a male friend of mine. . . . ‘I mean,’ I said, ‘men are bigger, most of the time, they can run faster, strangle better, and they have on the average a lot more money and power.’ “They’re afraid women will laugh at them,’ he said. ‘Undercut their world view.’
Then I asked some women students in a quickie poetry seminar I was giving, ‘Why do women feel threatened by men?’ “They’re afraid of being killed,’ they said.
QI hypothesizes that the modern concise saying was derived from the passage above.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Edwin Lutyens? Arthur Wimperis? Geoffrey Willans? John Poole? Malcolm Sterling Mackinlay? Anonymous?
Sauteed cod with capers and tomato from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: A wit at a restaurant was served a plate of cod which looked unappetizing. The rejected fish inspired this memorably hilarious pun:
A piece of cod which passeth all understanding.
The wordplay was based on a biblical verse:
The peace of God which passeth all understanding.
This quip has been attributed to English architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, English playwright Arthur Wimperis, and English writer Geoffrey Willans. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match for this pun located by QI appeared within an anecdote published in “London Society: An Illustrated Magazine” in 1886. The person delivering the joke was not precisely identified. His last name was Poole. The phrase “out at elbows” meant living in poverty. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
He was dining at one of the cheap restaurants over the water the other evening, with three or four fellows as out at elbows as himself, when a dish of fish was served up, a mysterious looking edible which no one present could put a name to.
One thought it might be intended for turbot, another voted it brill, and at last it came to Poole’s turn. After staring and sniffing at it for a minute or two, ‘I may be mistaken,’ he said, ‘but if my eyes and nose don’t deceive me, it is a piece of cod which passeth all understanding.’
The tale above was set about forty years before the publication date, i.e., circa 1846. The punster might be the playwright John Poole who was known for penning satires and farces in that time period.
The pertinent biblical verse is Philippians 4:7. Here is the phrasing from the King James Bible:2
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Here is the translation from the New International Version:3
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Mao Zedong? Zhou Enlai? Eduard Shevardnadze? Andre Malraux? Anonymous Official? Apocryphal?
Storming of the Tuileries during the French Revolution
Question for Quote Investigator: A popular anecdote claims that a high-level U.S. politician once met with a Chinese official during the 1970s, and they began to talk about the French Revolution. When the Chinese official was asked about the impact of this momentous historical event he replied: “It’s too soon to say”.
This response has been attributed to two important Chinese leaders: Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. I am skeptical because I have not found any solid citations. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: This anecdote is difficult to trace because the details of the story vary. This article presents a snapshot of current research.
A fascinating precursor appeared in a lecture delivered in 1939 by New Zealand journalist Guy Hardy Scholefield. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
To understand what is happening in the world to-day we must look back at least as far as the revolt of the North American colonies. A Chinese philosopher protested with genuine surprise that it is still too early to know what was the effect of the French Revolution.
This citation shows that the notably equivocal response was being attributed to an anonymous Chinese philosopher by 1939. QI does not know whether the similarity with the 1970s anecdote was coincidental or not.
The earliest close match for the 1970s anecdote located by QI appeared in a 1978 speech by British politician and historian Alun Gwynne Jones delivered in the House of Lords as recorded in the Hansard:2
. . . a story which Dr. Henry Kissinger tells of an experience which he had in Paris at the time of the negotiations about the Vietnam war. One evening after a long and hard day’s negotiating, he and the other diplomats and politicians were sitting around in the home of their French host.
They were discussing the events of the day when the French ambassador, the host, wishing to lift the level of conversation somewhat, asked whether they could have a short conversation about what had been the effect of the French Revolution on the political development of the world.
He turned first to Henry Kissinger and said: “Secretary of State, could you say a word about the effects of the French Revolution on the political development of the United States?” Henry Kissinger, being an expert in this kind of thing, delivered a beautifully rounded lecture mentioning such names as de Tocqueville and Lafayette and reviewing all the political developments in the United States.
It was an enormous success; indeed, so much so that the French ambassador, much emboldened, turned to the Chinese representative, a very wise and ancient gentleman, sitting next to Henry Kissinger. He said: “Tell me your Excellency, what has been the effect of the French Revolution on the development of your country?” After a brief pause the Chinese gentleman said: “It is too early yet to say.”
I think that that example makes a real point, which is that the Chinese feel themselves to be part of a great historical development.
In 2011 an illuminating citation about this anecdote appeared in the “Financial Times” of London. The article by journalist Richard McGregor stated that the quotation was spoken by the Premiere of China Zhou Enlai. The question about the French Revolution was misinterpreted. Zhou Enlai thought the referent was the recent 1968 student riots in Paris and not the 1789 storming of the Bastille. Hence, Zhou Enlai answered, “Too early to say”.
This claim was based on comments from U.S. diplomat and interpreter Chas Freeman who was present during the exchange:3
. . . Chas Freeman, a retired foreign service officer, sought to correct the long-standing error.
“I distinctly remember the exchange. There was a mis-understanding that was too delicious to invite correction,” said Mr Freeman.
He said Mr Zhou had been confused when asked about the French Revolution and the Paris Commune. “But these were exactly the kinds of terms used by the students to describe what they were up to in 1968 and that is how Zhou understood them.”
The article also presented the viewpoint of sinologist Geremie Barme of the Australian National University:
Dr Barme added that Chinese researchers with access to the foreign ministry archives in Beijing said the records made clear that Mr Zhou was referring to the 1968 riots in Paris. The Chinese archives also record Mr Zhou’s conversation as being with Henry Kissinger.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Douglas Adams? Spike Milligan? Terry Pratchett? Charlie Bates? Harry Harrison? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: Prominent humorists have been credited with statements from the following family of jokes about collisions. Here are three examples:
(1) Falling doesn’t hurt you; it’s the sudden stop at the end. (2) It isn’t the speed that kills people; it’s the sudden stop. (3) Flying isn’t dangerous. Crashing is dangerous.
English author Douglas Adams, Irish comedian Spike Milligan, and English author Terry Pratchett have each received credit for telling jokes in this family. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: This joke is difficult to trace because it can be phrased in many ways. The earliest match located by QI appeared in 1853 within an anecdote published in “The Ladies’ Repository” magazine of New York. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
After a late supper, and two or three extra glasses, Charlie Bates is apt to be somnambulistic. Night before last, being an occasion of this kind, he backed himself out of his chamber window and fell to the pavement, a distance of ten or twelve feet. A passer-by came up to condole with him, remarking, “You seem to have had a bad fall.”“My dear sir,” answered Charlie, “the fall was a trifle not worth mentioning; but the sudden stop was decidedly unpleasant.”
Thus, this family of jokes began many years before Douglas Adams, Spike Milligan, and Terry Pratchett were born.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Question for Quote Investigator: A famous humorist apparently said something like the following about taxation. Here are two versions:
(1) “What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector?” “The taxidermist takes only your skin.”
(2) The difference between a tax collector and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist only takes your hide.
This quip has been attributed to Mark Twain. Would you please help me to determine the correct phrasing?
Reply from Quote Investigator: Mark Twain died in 1910, and the earliest published evidence located by QI appeared in a slim volume of Twain’s one-liners titled “More Maxims of Mark” compiled by Merle Johnson and privately printed in November 1927. The following three items appeared on page fourteen. The original text was all uppercase. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
We all live in the protection of certain cowardices which we call our principles.
We can’t reach old age by another man’s road. My habits protect my life but they would assassinate you.
What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin.
The quip also appeared in 1935 within “Mark Twain’s Notebook” which was published by Albert Bigelow Paine who was Twain’s literary executor. This book included observations, ideas, and diary-like material from Twain’s collection of notebooks. The following four items appeared in a section dated 1902:2
What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin.
Only he who has seen better days and lives to see better days again knows their full value.
Circumstances make man, not man circumstances.
You must not pay a person a compliment and then straightway follow it with a criticism.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
John Maynard Keynes?Dennis Gabor? Alan L. Mackay? Apocryphal? Anonymous?
Illustration of a calculator with coins from Pixabay
Question for Quote Investigator: A cynical taxpayer crafted the following remark:
The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that still carries any reward.
This statement has been credited to the famous economist John Maynard Keynes, but I am skeptical because I have never seen a solid citation. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in the 1970 book “Innovations: Scientific, Technological, and Social” by Hungarian-British physicist Dennis Gabor. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Even in Britain, where direct taxation has long reached the stage at which, as J. M. Keynes said ‘the avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that still carries any award’ and where private households save now only 6 per cent of their income, direct taxation brings in only 40 per cent of the public revenue, which is 38 per cent of the G.N.P.
This version of the quotation used the word “award” instead of “reward”. The statement appeared more than two decades after the death of John Maynard Keynes in 1946. Also, Gabor did not present a citation for the remark. Thus, this evidence is weak.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Picture of a typewriter with a tax form from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: A wit once said that he disliked paying income taxes, but the alternative of not paying income taxes was even worse. No payment implied no income, and that would be a terrible situation.
This quip has been attributed to Scottish whisky distiller Thomas Robert Dewar. Would you please help me to determine if this ascription is accurate by finding a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In October 1927 Thomas Robert Dewar delivered a speech at the Poultry Club in London. The article about the event in the “Daily Mirror” newspaper of London used the subtitle “Lord Dewar’s Epigrams”. Here is a sampling of five remarks from Dewar’s address. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Sometimes a pessimist is the man who backed an optimist.
The optimist is certain of going to Heaven; the pessimist is certain he won’t like it even if he gets there.
Experience is what you get while you are looking for something else.
The one thing that hurts more than having to pay income tax is not having to pay income tax.
When the time comes for the meek to inherit the earth, taxes will be so high that they won’t want it.
Articles about Dewar’s speech appeared on the same day in several newspapers including the “Daily Record”2 of Glasgow, Scotland and the “Newcastle Daily Journal”3 of Newcastle, England. These articles included the quip about taxes. Thus, there is solid evidence that Dewar spoke this joke in October 1927, but there is also evidence that the joke was already in circulation.
For example, in January 1927 “Smith’s Weekly” of Sydney, Australia printed a column called “The Melting Pot” which contained the following item without attribution. The phrasing was slightly different because it used the word “paying”:4
If there’s one thing that hurts more than paying income tax—it’s not having to pay income tax.
Another example of a saying that was in circulation before Dewar’s October 1927 speech is the following which appeared in the “Toledo Weekly Blade” of Toledo, Ohio in May 1923:5
Experience is what you get while you are looking for something else.
Hence, QI believes Dewar originated some epigrams, but he also repeated some existing epigrams.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Picture of the New York City skyline from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: People who love living in New York City often believe it is the epicenter of the world. Here are two versions of a statement displaying this attitude:
(1) The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding.
(2) He had the true New Yorker’s secret belief that people living anywhere else had to be, in some sense, kidding.
This saying has been attributed to the prominent U.S. literary figure John Updike. Would you please help me to find a citation and to determine the correct phrasing?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1982 John Updike published the novel “Bech Is Back”. The main character was a writer named Henry Bech who was able to overcome writer’s block. In the following passage Updike presented the inner-thoughts of Bech. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
The folks downtown looked merry to Bech, and the whole burg on a play scale; he had the true New Yorker’s secret belief that people living anywhere else had to be, in some sense, kidding.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Question for Quote Investigator: A person in the public eye was asked about dieting to remain svelte, and the fun-loving reply highlighted the importance of taking pleasure in life:
I’d much rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size zero.
This statement has been attributed to two popular performers: Sophia Loren and Sophia Bush. Would you please explore this topic and determine whether either of these women delivered this refreshing remark?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 2007 “People” magazine published a piece titled “3 Questions For Sophia Bush”. The following was the third question and reply. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH PRESSURE TO BE THIN?
Life is too short and I’m Italian. I’d much rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size 0.
Size zero is a small clothing size for women in the U.S. QI believes Sophia Bush is the most likely creator of this quotation. She appeared in the television series “One Tree Hill” (2003-2012) and “Chicago P.D.” (2014-2017). She also appeared in the movies “The Hitcher” (2007), “Chalet Girl” (2011), and “Marshall” (2017).
QI has found no substantive support for the attribution to Sophia Loren (stage name of Sofia Scicolone). This mistake fits a known error mechanism in which an attribution jumps from one person to another person with a similar name. This error is more likely to occur when the latter person is more famous like Loren who starred in many movies including: “Houseboat” (1958), “Two Women” (1961), “El Cid” (1961), “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” (1963), “Arabesque” 1966, and “Pret-a-Porter” (1994).
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Eugène Sue? Klemens von Metternich? Charles de Talleyrand? Otto von Bismarck? Susannah Frances Reynolds? Roman Proverb? Klingon Proverb? Anonymous?
Picture of pumpkin soup served chilled from Pixabay
Question for Quote Investigator: Individuals who seek revenge often find that careful planning and the elapse of time are required to obtain justice. The following proverb is popular with those who pursue vengeance. Here are four versions:
(1) Revenge is a dish best eaten cold (2) Revenge is a dish best served cold (3) Vengeance is best eaten cold (4) Vengeance should be eaten cold
Would you please explore the provenance of this expression?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match known to QI appeared in the 1841 French novel “Mathilde: Mémoires D’une Jeune Femme” (“Matilda: Memoirs of a Young Woman”) by Eugène Sue. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Si j’avais eu le courage de me battre avec Lancry, il me semble que je l’aurais tué, tant je le haïssais; mais je vous l’ai dit . . . je suis nerveux, j’ai attendu . . . Et puis la vengeance se mange très-bien froide, comme on dit vulgairement . . .
Here is one possible translation into English:
If I had had the courage to fight Lancry, it seems to me that I would have killed him, so much did I hate him; but I told you . . . I am nervous, I waited . . . And revenge is best eaten cold, as they say vulgarly . . .
The speaking character did not take credit for the saying; instead, he indicated that it was already in circulation. Thus, Eugène Sue helped to popularize the expression, but the creator remains anonymous.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
