Winston Churchill? Nancy Astor? Marshall Pinckney Wilder? Patrick O’Dowd? David Lloyd George? George Bernard Shaw? Groucho Marx? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a famous anecdote in which an exasperated individual fantasizes aloud about giving poison to another person. The sharp rejoinder is surprising and hilarious. Usually the two named participants are Nancy Astor and …
Yearly Archives: 2014
Know Your Lines and Don’t Bump Into the Furniture
Spencer Tracy? Noel Coward? Alfred Lunt? Lynn Fontanne? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Some actors engage in elaborate rituals when preparing to perform a role. But the funniest advice about acting that I have ever heard avoids all pretensions. Here are three versions: 1) Speak clearly, and don’t bump into the furniture. 2) Learn your lines …
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The Ultimate Purpose of an Economy Is to Produce More Consumer Goods
Arthur F. Burns? Raymond J. Saulnier? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: One criticism of modern economies asserts that consumer goods are being wastefully over-produced and human happiness has become disconnected from the possession of superfluous material objects. These critics contend that individuals and economic architects should concentrate on creating positive and constructive experiences and deemphasize the …
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Play Is the Highest Form of Research
Albert Einstein? Neville V. Scarfe? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A marvelous quotation about play is attributed to the most brilliant scientist of the modern age, Albert Einstein: Play is the highest form of research. I would like to include this statement in a paper I am writing, but I have not been able to find …
The Plays of Shakespeare Were Not Written by Shakespeare but by Another Man of the Same Name
Mark Twain? Oxford Student? Frenchman? Lewis Carroll? Schoolchild? G. K. Chesterton? Israel Zangwill? Charles Lamb? Benjamin Jowett? Aldous Huxley? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Determining the accurate provenance of famous plays and poems can be a contentious topic. According to tradition the composer of the Iliad and Odyssey has been referred to as Homer, but some …
Originality Is Undetected Plagiarism
Voltaire? William Ralph Inge? Herbert Paul? Paul Chatfield? Horace Smith? Katharine Fullerton Gerould? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I have been attempting to trace a provocative and humorous remark about originality that has been attributed to a professor at the University of Cambridge named William Ralph Inge: Originality is undetected plagiarism. Would you please help? Quote …
There Are Two Lasting Bequests We Can Give Our Children: Roots and Wings
Henry Ward Beecher? Jonas Salk? Hodding Carter? Wise Woman? Ronald Reagan? Jean W. Rindlaub? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The goals of child rearing have sometimes been explicated using two vivid metaphors: roots and wings. This contrasting figurative language presents a powerful though oddly incongruous combination: Parents should provide their children with roots and wings. There …
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If You Can’t Say Something Good About Someone, Sit Right Here by Me
Dorothy Parker? Alice Roosevelt Longworth? Earl Wilson? Robert Harling? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The most trenchant comment pertaining to gossip that I have ever heard is often attributed to the wit Dorothy Parker. The quip is based on altering the following conventional instruction on etiquette: If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say …
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Can’t Act; Slightly Bald; Can Dance a Little
Studio Report? David O. Selznick? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The celebrated movie star Fred Astaire was known for his charm and his extraordinary dancing, but his initial screen test was a disaster. Hollywood legend claims that the studio report evaluating Astaire contained the following line: Can’t act. Can’t sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little. …
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Money Can’t Buy Love, But It Improves Your Bargaining Position
Christopher Marlowe? Laurence J. Peter? Evan Esar? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Christopher Marlowe was a brilliant poet and dramatist of the 1500s whose works influenced the luminary William Shakespeare. I was astonished to find the following statement attributed to him: Money can’t buy love, but it improves your bargaining position. In my opinion, this expression …
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