Tracing Quotations
Benjamin Franklin? Theodore Edward Hook? Maria Edgeworth? Arthur Wellesley? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The statesman Benjamin Franklin is often credited with the following aphorism. Here are two versions: A person good at making excuses is seldom good for anything else. A man who is good at making excuses is good for nothing else. I have …
Continue reading “Those Who Are Good at Making Excuses Are Seldom Good at Anything Else”
Pablo Picasso? Leonard Lyons? Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler? Arthur Koestler? Marshall McLuhan? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The most fascinating anecdote about authenticity that I have ever heard features Pablo Picasso repudiating a painting that he apparently created. Are you familiar with this tale? Would you please explore its provenance? Quote Investigator: The earliest occurrence of this anecdote …
Barbara W. Tuchman? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The popular historian Barbara W. Tuchman said that a successful revolution eventually reinstates the tyrannical behavior that precipitated the initial rebellion. I do not recall the precise wording she used. Would you please help me to find this quotation? Quote Investigator: In 1971 Barbara W. Tuchman published “Stilwell …
Samuel Goldwyn? Solomon S. Levadi? Ezra Goodman? Norton Mockridge? Michael Curtiz? Mickey Rooney? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: When reminiscing about events from the nostalgia-tinged past the following figurative phrase is popular: Much water has flowed under the bridge since then. The famous movie producer Samuel Goldwyn reportedly employed an unintentionally comical variant: We have passed …
Robert Heinlein? Emma D. E. N. Southworth? Wilfrid S. Bronson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Science fiction luminary Robert Heinlein employed the following phrase in two of his novels: That’s the moose’s problem. The phrase seems to mean: That problem should be dealt with by someone else. Would you please explore the origin of this expression? …
Alfred Hitchcock? Elbert Hubbard? Theodore Parker? François Truffaut? Dear Quote Investigator: The influential English film director Alfred Hitchcock employed the term MacGuffin when he discussed the plots of his movies. He also told a peculiar story to explain the meaning of the term. Would you please explore this topic? Quote Investigator: In 1967 the prominent …
Mignon McLaughlin? Marshall McLuhan? Wayne Dyer? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: History books laud unconventional thinkers and eccentric characters who faced hardships during their lifetimes. An adage expressing this notion has been credited to magazine editor Mignon McLaughlin and media theorist Marshall McLuhan. Here are two versions: The world values live conformists and dead rebels. Society …
Continue reading “Every Society Honors Its Live Conformists, and Its Dead Troublemakers”
Benjamin Franklin? George Savile? Apocryphal? Anonymous Dear Quote Investigator: A popular technique in rhetoric consists of repeating a clause while permuting the words. For example: Money will do everything for you. You will do everything for money. Apparently, statesman Benjamin Franklin contended that a belief in the first clause led individuals to follow the guidance …
Vladimir Lenin? Joseph Stalin? Karl Marx? George Racey Jordan? Samuel E. Keeble? S. Dmitrijewski? Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A quotation about imprudent greed and near-sightedness has been attributed to three prominent communists: Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and Karl Marx. Here are three versions of the statement: Would you please explore the provenance …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Capitalists Will Sell Us the Rope with Which We Will Hang Them”
Rainer Maria Rilke? Tim O’Reilly? Louise Bogan? Robert Bly? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A recent book by technology guru and computer book publisher Tim O’Reilly contained the following appeal:[1]2017, WTF?: What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us by Tim O’Reilly, Chapter 16: Work on Stuff That Matters, Quote Page 352 and 353, HarperCollins …
Continue reading “The Purpose of Life Is To Be Defeated by Greater and Greater Things”