Samuel Goldwyn? Humphrey Bogart? Ed Sullivan? Moss Hart? John Ford? Brendan Behan? Harry Warner? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Storytellers often wish to do more than simply entertain. They wish to instruct their audiences via a didactic narrative. Yet, the primary concern of the producers of films and plays is financial success. This tension is …
Monthly Archives: May 2019
Quote Origin: The True Friend Walks In When Others Walk Out
Walter Winchell? Robert Hill? C. R. Durrant? William T. Ellis? Milton Berle? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: When you encounter difficulties some nominal friends will walk away from you, but your genuine friends will offer help and support. Here are two versions of an apposite adage: (1) The true friend walks in when others walk …
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Quote Origin: Beware of His False Knowledge: It Is More Dangerous Than Ignorance
George Bernard Shaw? Alexander Pope? H. W. James? Thomas Henry Huxley? Paul Janet? George Pellew? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently I saw a tweet with a quotation attributed to the famous playwright and intellectual George Bernard Shaw: Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. I haven’t been able to find a …
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Quote Origin: You Are the First Generation To Face the Possibility of Being the Last Generation
Thomas Clement Douglas? Beto O’Rourke? Jay Inslee? Barack Obama? Mike McGinn? W. R. Barnhart? Lee Loevinger? Billy Graham? Jay D. Hair? Brian Fisher? Question for Quote Investigator: Humanity faces a severe danger according to similar statements from two presidential candidates: (1) We are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change and we …
Quote Origin: You Are My Fifth Favorite Actor. The First Four Are the Marx Brothers
George Bernard Shaw? Winston Churchill? Cedric Hardwicke? Blanche Patch? Leonard Lyons? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: According to a Hollywood legend, a famous intellectual or statesman once praised a prominent actor with a left-handed compliment. Here are two versions: The famous person was supposedly George Bernard Shaw or Winston Churchill. The actor was the English …