Tracing Quotations
Vince Lombardi? Bobby Knight? Fielding H. Yost? John Cooper? Joe Paterno? Vernon Law? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular sports maxim highlights the importance of preparation. Here are three versions: The will to win is important; the will to prepare to win is vital. The will to win is not nearly as important as the …
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William Butler Yeats? Will Rogers? Edgar Guest? Margaret Lee Runbeck? Dorothy C. Wegner? Roberta Lieberman? Mitch Albom? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The Nobel Prize winning Irish poet William Butler Yeats often receives credit for the following sentiment: There are no strangers here; only friends you haven’t yet met. Is this ascription accurate? Quote Investigator: QI …
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Elizabeth Taylor? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor was paired with many high-profile costars such as Paul Newman, Richard Burton, Montgomery Clift, Rock Hudson, and James Dean during her long career. Nevertheless, she humorously once said that her best leading men were animals, e.g., dogs and horses. Would please help me to find …
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Aldous Huxley? William C. Hunter? Jacob Feuerring? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: When Aldous Huxley, the author of the famous dystopian novel “Brave New World”, was young he was eager to change the world. Yet, as he grew older he concluded that he could only change himself with any confidence. Would you please help me to …
Jean Cocteau? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The prominent French writer Jean Cocteau has been credited with the following humorously skewed definition. Here are three versions: A great literary masterpiece is simply a dictionary in disorder. The greatest masterpiece in literature is only a dictionary out of order. Masterpieces of literature are nothing more than the …
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Winston Churchill? Henry Ward Beecher? Professor Matthews? Elias J. MacEwan? Dear Quote Investigator: According to legend a young Member of Parliament approached Winston Churchill with a copy of an address he was planning to deliver and asked him how he could put more fire into it. Churchill responded: Put fire into this speech? I suggest …
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