Tracing Quotations
Dorothy Parker? An old farmer? A young newspaper editor? Bennett Cerf? Dear Quote Investigator: Recently when a friend delivered a clever retort I told her it was worthy of Dorothy Parker, but she did not recognize the name. I love Parker’s witticisms and am sad that her fame is going into eclipse. The prominent publisher …
Continue reading ““I simply can’t bear fools.” “Apparently, your mother could.””
Collis Huntington? Richard Ballinger? David Starr Jordan? Upton Sinclair? Question for Quote Investigator: Collis Huntington was one of the top railroad tycoons in the 1800s. His business skills helped to build the first transcontinental railroad in the United States and many other rail links. But his detractors considered him ruthless and greedy. These negative traits …
Thucydides? W. B. ‘Bill’ Hayler? Horowitz’ First Law? Question for Quote Investigator: I once served on a ship that had a brass plaque on the bridge engraved with the following: A collision at sea can ruin your whole day. This comes across as a modern sardonic saying, and I was surprised to read the name …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: A Collision at Sea Can Ruin Your Entire Day”
Jim Morrison? Ray Manzarek? Aldous Huxley? William Blake? Question for Quote Investigator: One of the best rock groups in history is The Doors, and its legendary front man Jim Morrison was one of the greatest rock stars ever. That is my opinion. But I am sending you this message because I want your opinion concerning …
Carroll D. Wright? Mark Twain? Charles H. Grosvenor? James G. Blaine? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I hope you will be able to settle a disagreement between friends concerning the following quotation: Figures don’t lie, but liars figure. My friend believes that this saying originated with Samuel Clemens otherwise known as Mark Twain. I think it …
Laurie Anderson? Steve Martin? Frank Zappa? Martin Mull? Elvis Costello? Thelonius Monk? Dear Quote Investigator: I have a difficult riddle for you. A mailing list I belong to has discussed the following quotation several times during the past ten years, and the question of its origin has never been satisfactorily resolved. Writing about music is …
Continue reading “Writing About Music is Like Dancing About Architecture”
Margaret Thatcher? Fictional? Dear Quote Investigator: I have been trying to learn about a sentence supposedly said by Margaret Thatcher who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1980s. The version I was told is: If you want a speech made you should ask a man, but if you want something done …
Continue reading “If You Want Anything Said Ask a Man, Want Anything Done Ask a Woman”
The blog entry for the saying “If You Steal From One Author, It’s Plagiarism; If You Steal From Many, It’s Research” has now been updated. This entry has now been removed. Please visit the updated article.