Tracing Quotations
Harold Macmillan? Winston Churchill? Adam Raphael? Peter Kellner? Kenneth Fleet? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Public figures around the world have faced major difficulties such as economic crashes, epidemics, and wars. Several decades ago, a powerful British politician experienced a series of setbacks during a period of economic and social upheaval. A journalist asked him …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Events, My Dear Boy, Events”
Abe Martin? Kin Hubbard? H. L. Mencken? Jim Courier? George Young? Gary Shelton? Mike Lupica? Dale Bumpers? Shannon Sharpe? Question for Quote Investigator: Contract negotiations are tough, and disputes usually involve money. Yet, participants sometimes highlight other issues as paramount. Jaded observers have crafted the following dictum: When they say it’s not about the money. …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: When They Say It’s Not About Money, It’s About Money”
Charles M. Schwab? Reed Smoot? Pope John XXIII? Fliegende Blätter? Edgar Wallace? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A visitor to a large business watched as numerous workers moved purposefully along the hallways into offices. The visitor approached the leader of the company and asked: “This is such a busy place! How many people work here?” …
Continue reading “Dialogue Origin: “How Many People Work Here?” “About Half of Them””
Zora Neale Hurston? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Brilliant writers are often impelled to share a tale. Keeping an untold story inside can cause agony. The prominent author Zora Neale Hurston said something like this. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1942 Zora Neale Hurston published “Dust …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: There Is No Agony Like Bearing an Untold Story Inside You”
Dorothy Parker? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: If you experience a wild and tumultuous love affair then you will probably become bored with an episode of staid affection. The famous wit Dorothy Parker wrote a poem on this topic containing the following elegant line: They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm. Sometimes reference …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: They Sicken of the Calm, Who Knew the Storm”
A. K. Karlson? High School Motto? Evan Esar? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The word “can” designates the ability to accomplish a task. “Can” also specifies a container. I recall the following wordplay-based inspirational maxims: Would you please explore this topic? Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in “The Hartford …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Success Comes In Cans. I Can, You Can, We Can”
Charlotte Chandler? Billy Wilder? Lyn Erhard? Stanley Kramer? Pablo Picasso? Question for Quote Investigator: Your alarm clock sounds, and you wake up groggily. You press the snooze button to get ten more minutes of sleep. The alarm buzzes again, and you press the button again. How can you prevent this unhappy cycle? Instead of returning …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: You Have To Have a Dream So You Can Get Up in the Morning”
Elbert Hubbard? H.C. Peters? Leonard Bernstein? Question for Quote Investigator: Dreaming about accomplishing a vaguely defined magnificent task at some unknown future date is unhelpful. True progress is made by formulating a plan and adopting a clear deadline. This notion has been attributed to U.S. publisher Elbert Hubbard and U.S. composer Leonard Bernstein. Would you …
George Orwell? Coco Chanel? Mae West? Ingrid Bergman? Albert Camus? Abraham Lincoln? Edwin M. Stanton? Lucius E. Chittenden? Albert Schweitzer? Maurice Chevalier? William H. Seward? Edward Lee Hawk? William Shakspeare? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A person’s true character can be deduced by the careful study of the face according to believers in physiognomy. This …
Sinclair Lewis? Bennett Cerf? Storm Jameson? Leon Uris? Abraham Cady? Truman Capote? James Michener? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Classes which attempt to teach writing have proliferated in recent decades. Yet, an undercurrent of skepticism regarding the value of this pedagogical endeavor persists. According to a sardonic anecdote a successful author was once badgered into …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: What Are You Doing Here? Why the Devil Aren’t You Home Writing?”