Tracing Quotations
Yogi Berra? Rags Ragland? Suzanne Ridgeway? John McNulty? Ukie Sherin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: An amusing anecdote states that baseball great Yogi Berra was once asked whether he wished to have dinner at a highly-regarded restaurant, and he replied with a remark combining wisdom with contradiction: Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded. Is …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Nobody Goes There Anymore, It’s Too Crowded”
Highlighted articles: In October 2024 Big Think published a superb piece about Garson O’Toole and the Quote Investigator website. The article was titled “Einstein didn’t say that: How viral misquotes evolve and replicate”, and the journalist was Kevin Dickinson. Click here to read the article. In April 2017 The New York Times published an excellent …
Dorothy Parker? Oscar Wilde? Alexandre Dumas? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: While streaming an elaborately expensive television series I encountered a gratuitous scene with scanty clothing. I was reminded of this witticism: Nothing succeeds like undress. This quip has been attributed to Dorothy Parker. Would you please explore the provenance of this remark? Reply from …
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Who Made the Criticism: Dorothy Parker? Blanca Holmes? Vincent Sheean? Sidney Skolsky? Anonymous? Who Was Being Criticized: Alan Campbell? Lloyd George? Orson Welles? Question for Quote Investigator: A person who is tough and adaptable is able to absorb setbacks in life and continue onward. This capability is represented metaphorically by a tumbler who lands upright. …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: No Matter What Happens He Will Land On Someone Else’s Feet”
Alice Roosevelt Longworth? Bettina Borrmann Wells? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Alice Roosevelt Longworth was the daughter of Theodore Roosevelt and the wife of politician Nicholas Longworth III. For decades she was a well-known socialite in Washington D.C. who experienced praise and condemnation for her sharp wit which was sometimes caustic. Calvin Coolidge who …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Only Trouble With Coolidge Is That He Was Weaned on a Pickle”
Winston Churchill? Voltaire? Julian Amery? Ronald Reagan? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: According to legend a political rival of Winston Churchill was once praised with the description “He is a modest man.” Churchill responded with the quip “He has much to be modest about.” Would you please investigate this tale? Reply from Quote Investigator: Clement …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: He Is a Modest Man Who Has a Great Deal To Be Modest About”
Mark Twain? Tennessee Williams? Edward Gannon? Hugh A. Mulligan? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Travelers in the U.S. sometimes complain of cookie-cutter monotony. The following quip has been attributed to the prominent playwright Tennessee Williams, and the luminary Mark Twain: America has only three great cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else …
Marc Connelly? Nicholas Longworth? S. H. Hale? Franklin P. Adams? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently I saw a list of the funniest ripostes, but it did not include the squelcher that I believe is the best. An unhappy card player wished to embarrass a bald man who was excelling. The disgruntled man placed …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Your Bald Head Feels as Smooth as My Wife’s Cheek”
Dorothy Parker? James Webb Young? Owen H. Hott? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A friend and I recently wondered about the origin of the following poem. We did not have much luck tracking it: See the happy moron, He doesn’t give a damn, I wish I were a moron, My God! perhaps I am! There …
Thucydides? W. B. ‘Bill’ Hayler? Horowitz’ First Law? Question for Quote Investigator: I once served on a ship that had a brass plaque on the bridge engraved with the following: A collision at sea can ruin your whole day. This comes across as a modern sardonic saying, and I was surprised to read the name …
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