Tracing Quotations
Yogi Berra? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: An entertaining tale states that baseball great Yogi Berra was once honored at a ceremony extolling his athletic skills. He knew of his obligation to give a speech after the receipt of the accolades and gifts, and his prepared remarks included a statement thanking everyone for making the …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Thank All of You for Making This Night Necessary”
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Sam Elliott? Ethan Coen? Joel Coen? Bertrand W. Sinclair? Carl O. Sauer? Roger Penske? Jim Croce? Preacher Roe? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a family of ursine sayings about the topsy-turvy vicissitudes of life: 1) Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.2) Sometimes you hunt the …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Sometimes You Eat the Bear, and Sometimes the Bear Eats You”
Tallulah Bankhead? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The movie star Tallulah Bankhead apparently grew tired of seeing misquotations, and she proclaimed that any quotation ascribed to her was inaccurate: …except if it is funny, in which case I definitely said it. I thought you might enjoy this topic. What do you think? Reply from Quote …
P. G. Wodehouse? John Gardner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The popular and prolific humorist P. G. Wodehouse created indelible characters such as Bertie Wooster and Reginald Jeeves. Wodehouse apparently claimed that he was a remarkably precocious author: I know I was writing stories when I was five. I haven’t been able to find a …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Know I Was Writing Stories When I Was Five”
Mark Twain? Ossip Gabrilowitsch? Clara Clemens? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I’m conducting a research check on a television script containing a definition for the term “conspiracy” credited to Mark Twain. The definition notes that the conspiring participants “dare not admit in public” the secret agreement. Are you familiar with this quotation? Is the attribution …
Plato? Michel de Montaigne? Hannah More? C. V. Hibbard? Warren J. Clear? Ruth Straub? William Thomas Cummings? Ernie Pyle? Anonymous Chaplain? Anonymous Soldier? Question for Quote Investigator: When exposed to extreme peril many people reflect on the spiritual or supernatural dimension of existence. The following sayings have been particularly popular during times of war. Here …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: There Are No Atheists in Foxholes”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge? Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley? Don Marquis? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: While perusing the book “Dim Wit: The Stupidest Quotes of All Time” I came across an entertaining topic for Halloween in the following entry about a famous poet: Samuel Taylor Coleridge was asked, “Do you believe in ghosts?” “No, ma’am,” he replied, …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Do Not Believe in Ghosts Because I Have Seen Too Many of Them”
Elbert Hubbard? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I’m intrigued by the following counter-intuitive adage: The love we give away is the only love we keep. Would you please explore its provenance? Reply from Quote Investigator: Elbert Hubbard was the founder of a community of artisans called Roycrofters who were located in East Aurora, New …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Love You Give Away Is the Only Love You Keep”
Edgar Allan Poe? Germaine de Staël? Bert Leston Taylor? Charles A. Dana? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a family of quips that express a comically contradictory attitude toward specters. Here are three instances: I do not believe in ghosts, but I am awfully afraid of them. I don’t believe in ghosts, but I’ve …
Continue reading “I Do Not Believe in Ghosts, But I Am Awfully Afraid of Them”
Stephanie Herrera? Chris Boeskool? Mike Jebbett? Jesse Alan Downs? Brian Sims? Clay Shirky? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Activists have formulated an adage about privilege that has achieved wide distribution: When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression Would you please examine its provenance? Reply from Quote Investigator: This thought can be expressed in …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: When You’re Accustomed to Privilege, Equality Feels Like Oppression”