Wilson Mizner? Steven Wright? Joseph Cummings Chase? Asa George Baker? Bob Oliver?
Dear Quote Investigator: Some of the websites I come across seem to produce their content simply by using cut and paste. They do not even bother to collect information from multiple sources. I am reminded of the great one-liner by the comedian Steven Wright:
To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
Actually, I am not sure if this was originally said by Steven Wright. In fact, I am not sure he said it at all. Maybe the websites that list it as one of his jokes are incorrect. Could you investigate this comical saying?
Quote Investigator: Yes, QI will be happy to look into the lineage of this quote. Evidence accumulated by QI points to two possible candidates for authorship: Wilson Mizner and Joseph Cummings Chase. The earliest citations are dated 1938. A version of the saying is attributed to Mizner in a book in that year, and the quip is used by Chase in the October issue of The Commentator magazine.