Tracing Quotations
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Elbert Hubbard? Napoleon Bonaparte? Dale Carnegie? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Self-help books encourage people to act with confidence and assurance because apprehension can block progress. I once read the following motivational statement: Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world. These words were attributed to the famous …
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Dorothy L. Sayers? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Gossip mongers are obsessed with identifying and publicizing the latest carnal pairings of celebrities. The acclaimed mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers composed a short poem expressing disinterest in this subject, and I have seen two distinct versions of her humorous four lines. Would you please help me …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: As Years Come In and Years Go Out, I Totter Toward the Tomb”
Dorothy Parker? Susan Sontag? Alix Nelson? Ross Macdonald? Kenneth Millar? Tom Samet? Edmund Wilson? Anne Ruggles Gere? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Yesterday, while reading an acerbic episode within a stylish memoir I recalled the following adage: Writing well is the best revenge. These words are often credited to the famous wit Dorothy Parker, but …
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Speaker: George Dixon? Ann Richards? Vito Marcantonio? Oliver Herford? Target: Harold Ickes? George H. W. Bush? Newbold Morris? Jones? Question for Quote Investigator: A person who is born into a wealthy and successful family is “born with a silver spoon in his or her mouth” according to a longstanding idiom. There is a funny variant …
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Mark Twain? Thomas Jefferson? Voltaire? Edward Young? George Bernard Shaw? Laird MacKenzie? Elsie McCormick? Bertrand Russell? Kurt Vonnegut? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Several thinkers have offered an anguished explanation for the dangerously disordered state of the world. Here are four versions: This notion has been credited to Mark Twain, Voltaire, Thomas Jefferson, George …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: This World Is the Lunatic Asylum of the Universe”
Mark Twain? Groucho Marx? Wilson Mizner? Sydney J. Harris? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A funny man once said that he was embarrassed to discover that his behavior had always been scandalous; he had been born in bed with a lady. This line has been connected to Mark Twain, Groucho Marx, and Wilson Mizner. Would …
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Warren Buffett? Todd Combs? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Warren Buffett is one of the wealthiest individuals in the history of the world. His lengthy record of successful investing is remarkable. Apparently, he was once asked for guidance and offered this suggestion: Read five-hundred pages every day. I haven’t been able to find a citation. …
William Ralph Inge? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The number of people on planet Earth has grown to the remarkably large figure of 7.5 billion. A passage in the Book of Genesis of the King James Bible encourages fertility: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the …
William Ralph Inge? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I once heard the humorous claim that recorded history may be divided into two parts: Would you please explore the provenance of this observation? Reply from Quote Investigator: William Ralph Inge was Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London and a professor of divinity at Cambridge. Dean …
Mark Twain? Dick Nolan? Ad Schuster? Betty Carpenter? Bumper Sticker? Jake Ford? Bill Quraishi? John Wallner? Robin Williams? Barry Levinson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The number of sayings spuriously ascribed to Mark Twain seems to grow every year. Here are two versions of a remark credited to the famous son of Hannibal, Missouri: The …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Politicians Are Like Diapers. They Should Be Changed Regularly”