Tracing Quotations
Josh Billings? Artemus Ward? Will Rogers? Abraham Lincoln? Mark Twain? Friedrich Nietzsche? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Here are two versions of an expression I am trying to trace: 1) It’s better to know nothing than to know what ain’t so. 2) It is better not to know so much, than to know so many things …
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F. Scott Fitzgerald? Christopher Poindexter? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Goodreads is one of the most popular community websites for readers, and it includes a massive collection of quotations. Since anyone can share a quotation it is unsurprising that some of them are misattributed or inaccurately stated. Recently, I came across the following words which were …
Continue reading “Drunk on the Idea That Love, Only Love, Could Heal Our Brokenness”
Dorothy Parker? Leonard Lyons? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous wit Dorothy Parker was a friend of Alexander Woollcott, a notable writer for “The New Yorker” magazine. When Woollcott’s ancient cat developed a serious malady he was told by a veterinarian that the animal would have to be put to sleep. Uncertain of how to …
George Washington? John Tillotson? Jonathan Swift? James Fenimore Cooper? Frederick Uttley Laycock? Robert Heinlein? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A cautionary statement about statecraft has often been attributed to George Washington. Here are three versions: 1) Government is like fire, a dangerous servant and a fearful master. 2) Government, like fire, is a troublesome servant and …
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Friedrich Nietzsche? Thomas De Quincey? W. H. Auden? Louis Kronenberger? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A provocative comment about human memory has been attributed to the controversial philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: The existence of forgetting has never been proved: we only know that some things do not come to mind when we want them. This statement suggests …
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A. J. Liebling? H. L. Mencken? Norman Woelfel? Arthur Calwell? Dear Quote Investigator: There exists a famously sardonic remark about the media and control. Here are four versions: 1) Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one. 2) Freedom of the press is confined to the people who own one. 3) Freedom of …
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Immanuel Kant? Herbert Spencer? Will Durant? Raoul Jossett? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a fascinating two-part adage about science and wisdom that is commonly attributed to the influential 18th century philosopher Immanuel Kant: Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life. I have attempted to find a convincing citation for this saying, but none …
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Immanuel Kant? Herbert Spencer? Thomas Henry Huxley? R. Strachey? Dear Quote Investigator: The following two part adage is usually attributed to the famous 18th century German philosopher Immanuel Kant: Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life. I have not seen any citation in German or English showing that Kant ever wrote or said this. …
Will Rogers? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: We live in an age of free apps, free ebooks, and free online services, but that does not restrain criticism. The popular humorist Will Rogers once spoke about the inability to please some individuals who receive material for free. I haven’t been able to precisely locate this quotation. Would …
Continue reading “It’s the Guy You Give Something To That You Can’t Please”
William A. Spooner? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The funniest reproach aimed at a student that I have ever heard was spoken by Reverend William A. Spooner who was the Warden of New College, Oxford. The clergyman was famous for jumbling the letters and sounds of words when he spoke. His castigation of the student began …
Continue reading “Spoonerism: You Have Hissed All My Mystery Lectures”