Joseph Pulitzer? Alleyne Ireland? Lloyd Cory? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer once described the writing style he required from his journalists. He demanded brief, clear, forceful, picturesque, and accurate prose. Would you please help me to find citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: Joseph Pulitzer was the publisher of “The …
Monthly Archives: April 2020
Quote Origin: Blessed Are Those Who Plant Trees Under Whose Shade They Will Never Sit
Greek Proverb? Indian Proverb? Marcus Tullius Cicero? Joycelyn Elders? Warren Buffett? Hyacinthe Loyson? M. Trottier? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular adage praises people whose selfless actions are designed to benefit future generations. Here are two versions: Would you please explore the provenance of this saying? Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match known to …
Dialogue Origin: “I Am My Own Worst Enemy” “Not While I’m Alive”
Groucho Marx? Ernest Bevin? George S. Kaufman? Cotton Ed Smith? Franklin P. Adams? Alan Hale? Walter F. George? Oscar Levant? Question for Quote Investigator: A comment which acknowledges criticism has been coupled with a harshly comical riposte. Here are three examples: Would you please explore the provenance of this type of exchange? Reply from Quote …
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Quote Origin: The Surest Way to Make a Monkey of a Man Is to Quote Him
Robert Benchley? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: When you hear your own words from the past recited to you as a quotation the result is sometimes profound embarrassment. The humorist Robert Benchley apparently said that you could make a monkey out of a person by simply employing their own quotations. Would you please help me …
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Quote Origin: May the Sun in His Course Visit No Land More Free, More Happy, More Lovely, Than This Our Own Country
Daniel Webster? Herbert Hoover? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Extraordinary care should be taken whenever one plans to etch a quotation into a granite monument. That is why I am asking you about the accuracy of the following patriotic statement attributed to U.S. statesman and orator Daniel Webster: May the sun in his course visit …
Quote Origin: Everything I’ve Ever Said Will Be Credited To Dorothy Parker
George S. Kaufman? Scott Meredith? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Bright remarks are often misattributed to famously witty individuals such as Dorothy Parker. An exasperated fellow humorist once said: Everything I’ve ever said will be credited to Dorothy Parker. Would you please help me to locate a citation and tell me who said this? Reply …
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Quote Origin: Rhyme Does Not Pay
Dorothy Parker? Oscar Wilde? Mike Porter? Arch Ward? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Composing poetry is rarely a lucrative occupation. A traditional moralistic adage has been transformed into a comical warning for versifiers: This word play has been credited to the prominent wit Dorothy Parker who published multiple collections of poetry. Would you please explore …
Quote Origin: A Writer Is One To Whom Writing Comes Harder Than To Anybody Else
Thomas Mann? H. T. Lowe-Porter? Franz Leppmann? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Writing is an agonizing process requiring multiple drafts for some of its most skilled practitioners. Here are three versions of a pertinent quip: (1) The writer is a person who has a hard time writing. (2) A writer is a one who finds …
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Quote Origin: There Is a Plague on Man: His Opinion That He Knows Something
Michel de Montaigne? Charles Cotton? M. A. Screech? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Overconfidence is one of the great faults of humankind. Gaining mastery of a topic is often quite difficult. Here is a pertinent remark: There is a plague on Man: his opinion that he knows something. The prominent French philosopher Michel de Montaigne …
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Quote Origin: Truth Is the First Casualty in War
Aeschylus? Philip Snowden? Ethel Annakin? Samuel Johnson? Anne MacVicar Grant? E. D. Morel? W. T. Foster? Agnes Maude Royden? Hiram Johnson? Arthur Ponsonby? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The participants in a violent conflict often engage in crude propaganda and advocacy. Here are four versions of a pertinent saying: This adage has been credited to …
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