Tracing Quotations
P.T. Barnum? Hungry Joe Lewis? Artemus Ward? Mike McDonald? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous saying about gullibility is usually attributed to the well-known showman P. T. Barnum. Here are two versions: There’s a sucker born every minute. There’s a fool born every minute. Whether Barnum actually used either of these expressions is …
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Alfred Lord Tennyson? Claudia Adrienne Grandi? Claudia Ghandi? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The website of a major international news organization has an article titled “Tennyson: 10 Essential Quotes” with the following item listed third: If I had a flower for every time I thought of you… I could walk through my garden forever. Strangely, …
Frank A. Patterson Jr.? Maya Angelou? Carl W. Buehner? Carl W. Buechner? Carol Buchner? Don Aslett? Jerry Johnston? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The most valuable advice that I have ever heard for speakers and teachers is the following: They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. …
Russell B. Long? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: It’s tax time again in the U.S., and I recently heard a humorous rhyming verse on this topic: Don’t tax you. Don’t tax me. Tax the guy behind the tree. Do you know who originally said this? Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest close match for this …
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Jack L. Warner? Bill Davidson? Samuel Goldwyn? Louis B. Mayer? Harry Cohn? Apocryphal? Insult: Schmuck? Schlep? Schnook? Question for Quote Investigator: The attitude of Hollywood producers toward writers has been epitomized by the following callous remark: A writer is a schmuck with an Underwood. The Underwood Typewriter Company manufactured the best writing implements when the …
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