Tracing Quotations
Prophet: Harriet Martineau? William Tweed? John Tyndall? Auguste Comte? Robert G. Ingersoll? Karl Marx? Charles Darwin? Herbert Spencer? Henry George Atkinson? Paul Dirac? Felix Adler? Critic: Mark Twain? Douglas William Jerrold? George Grote? J. P. Jacobsen? Isaac M. Wise? Wolfgang Pauli? Question for Quote Investigator: The prominent physicist Paul Dirac was hostile toward religion, and …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: There Is No God, and Harriet Martineau Is His Prophet”
Albert Einstein? H. M. Harwood? R. Gore-Browne? John Conwell? Estelle Getty? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Did Albert Einstein’s genius extend from physics to psychology? The following remark has been ascribed to him: Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are …
H. L. Mencken? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: For many years H. L. Mencken was an influential and acerbic commentator with a national reputation in the U.S. His sharp witted and ferocious columns appeared in either “The Evening Sun” or “The Sun” of Baltimore, Maryland. Mencken’s low opinion of the general populace led him to …
Oscar Wilde? Frank Harris? Irish Barrister? Wilton Lackaye? Margaret Waters? Well-Known Young Clubman? Gustav Traub? Mike Romanoff? Samuel George Blythe? Arthur M. Binstead? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The scintillating conversationalist Oscar Wilde enjoyed modifying dusty platitudes to construct comical alternatives. For example, he reportedly permuted an old complaint about the working class to yield: …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Work is the Curse of the Drinking Classes”
Elizabeth I. Adamson? Ronald Knox? Ronald Reagan? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a definition that refers to the two ends of a baby. One end consists of a loud voice or a big appetite, and the other end is given a comical description. Are you familiar with this joke? Would you please research …
Isaac Asimov? Robert Silverberg? Andrew J. Offutt? Harlan Ellison? David Gerrold? David Langford? Frederik Pohl? Anonymous Fan? Question for Quote Investigator: The popular science fiction authors Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg were both famously prolific. Apparently, one of them delivered the following quip: I had a writing block once. It was the worst 20 minutes …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Had a Writing Block Once. It Was the Worst 20 Minutes of My Life”
Victor Hugo? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I am authoring a book that discusses marble, and I’ve found an apposite quotation ascribed to the French literary titan Victor Hugo author of “Les Misérables” and “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”. He employed antimetabole while comparing marble to human flesh. I have not been able to find solid …
Erma Bombeck? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Television is filled with athletic events during the winter holiday season. A hypnotized sports addict could stare at the tube for hours on end. A caustic remark about this behavior was apparently crafted by the humorist Erma Bombeck: Anybody who watches three games of football in a row …
James Matthew Barrie? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The Scottish playwright and novelist J. M. Barrie created the beloved fictional world of Peter Pan and Wendy. He also offered cogent advice about not ascribing excessively malign intentions to your antagonists. Are you familiar with this saying? Do you know when it was spoken? Reply from …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Never Ascribe to an Opponent Motives Meaner than Your Own”