Ayn Rand? Henry F. Cope? Josiah Stamp? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Here are two versions of an expression attributed to the influential and controversial novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand: A student would like to use Rand’s words as a quotation for the high school yearbook, but the editors have asked for a proper source. …
Monthly Archives: April 2015
Quote Origin: I Would Rather Have Two Girls at 21 Each Than One At 42
W. C. Fields? Great Lester? Fred Allen? Anonymous Vaudevillian? Question for Quote Investigator: I have been trying to trace the following gag: I’d rather have two girls at 21 each than one girl at 42. This line is usually attributed to the famous comedian W. C. Fields who played cantankerous and henpecked characters in movies. …
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Quote Origin: I Had Six Theories About Bringing Up Children
Lord Rochester? John Wilmot? James A. Magner? Mrs. John McLauchlan? Leonard Lyons? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A very funny comment about child-rearing has implausibly been attributed to John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester: Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories. Wilmot …
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Quote Origin: No Bastard Ever Won a War by Dying for His Country
George Patton? T. W. H. Crosland? Edmund Kozalla? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: General George S. Patton made the most incisive remark about war that I have ever heard. He was rallying Allied troops who were attempting to defeat the Axis Powers during World War II. His assertion about the two-edged sword of patriotism was …
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Quote Origin: The Most Rewarding Things You Do in Life Are Often the Ones that Look Like They Cannot Be Done
Arnold Palmer? John Sutton? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following statement about overcoming obstacles is attributed to the famous golfer Arnold Palmer: The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done. I am graduating soon and would like to use this as my yearbook …
Quote Origin: Chance, Coincidence, Miracles, Pseudonyms, and God
Albert Einstein? Théophile Gautier? Alexis de Valon? Samuel Taylor Coleridge? Helena Blavatsky? Dr. Paul F.? Heidi Quade? Bonnie Farmer? Charlotte C. Taylor? Doris Lessing? Nicolas Chamfort? Horace Walpole? Question for Quote Investigator: The following statement is attributed to the brilliant physicist Albert Einstein: Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous. I have been unable to …
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Dialogue Origin: “She Is Always Kind to Her Inferiors” “But Where Does She Find Them?”
Dorothy Parker? Mark Twain? Samuel Johnson? Sidney Skolsky? Margaret Case Harriman? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The scintillating wit Dorothy Parker once listened to an enumeration of the many positive attributes of a person she disliked. Below is the final statement of praise together with Parker’s acerbic response: “She is always kind to her inferiors.” …
Quote Origin: Chance Is the Nickname of Providence
Nicolas Chamfort? Horace Walpole? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The relationships between chance, luck, fate, and providence are often disputed. One viewpoint holds that no event occurs at random; instead, there is an underlying purpose or design though it may be hidden or opaque. Here is an adage encapsulating that thought: Chance is the nickname …
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Quote Origin: I Think that I Shall Never See a Billboard Lovely as a Tree
Joyce Kilmer? Ogden Nash? Confucious? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: April is National Poetry Month in the U. S., and Arbor Day also occurs in this month. A famous poem by Joyce Kilmer begins with the following couplet: I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A comical riff on …
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Quote Origin: Definition of Freedom: It’s Being Easy in Your Harness
Robert Frost? James B. Simpson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: An enigmatic metaphorical statement about freedom has been attributed to the famous American poet Robert Frost: You have freedom when you’re easy in your harness. Are these really the words of Frost? What was the context? Would you please examine this topic? Reply from Quote …
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