Mark Twain? William Morris? Edward Dicey? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Skeptics have questioned the economic viability of small isolated or insular communities by derisively envisioning rudimentary economies based on simple tasks, e.g., individuals would wash clothes for one another. This notion has been credited to humorist Mark Twain and socialist activist William Morris. In …
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Quote Origin: Don’t Take Life So Serious, Son … It Ain’t Nohow Permanent
Pogo? Walt Kelly? Porky Pine? Albert Alligator? Elbert Hubbard? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Walt Kelly created the landmark comic strip “Pogo” which combined beautiful artwork with entertaining humor. One strip contained a philosophical remark suggesting that one should not take life too seriously because of its transience. Would you please help me to find …
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Quote Origin: A Reader Lives a Thousand Lives Before He Dies. The Man Who Never Reads Lives Only One
Creator: George R. R. Martin, popular author of fantasy, horror, and science fiction who also works as a screenwriter and television producer; he is best known for the television series “Game of Thrones” adapted from the book series “A Song of Ice and Fire” Context: In 2011 George R. R. Martin published “A Dance with …
Quote Origin: For One Who Reads, There Is No Limit to the Number of Lives That May Be Lived
Creator: Louis L’Amour, very popular novelist who primarily wrote about the American Old West Context: In 1989 Louis L’Amour published a memoir titled “Education of a Wandering Man”. He eloquently expressed an idea that other writers of fiction and non-fiction have stated. Emphasis added: It is often said that one has but one life to …
Quote Origin: Fear Defeats More People than Any Other One Thing in the World
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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Quote Origin: As Years Come In and Years Go Out, I Totter Toward the Tomb
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 …
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Quote Origin: Writing Well Is the Best Revenge
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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Quote Origin: Born with a Silver Foot in His or Her Mouth
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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Quote Origin: This World Is the Lunatic Asylum of the Universe
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 …
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Quote Origin: To My Embarrassment I Was Born in Bed with a Lady
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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