Tracing Quotations
H. L. Mencken? Woody Allen? Walter Winchell? Alfred Lunt? Sarah Bernhardt? E. V. Durling? Jim Bishop? Colonel Stoopnagle? Frederick Chase Taylor? Leo Rosten? Humphrey Bogart? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following declaration of high praise has been applied to love making: The most fun you can have without laughing. Influential commentator H. L. Mencken …
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Anne Lamott? Don Felt? John A. MacDougall? Gerald G. Jampolsky? Gina Berriault? Dorothy Bullitt? Lily Tomlin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: It is not possible to change the past. Yet, enduring grievances are often emotionally rooted in an irrational hope that somehow past actions can be altered, and a disheartening event can be excised. Here …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Forgiveness Is Giving Up All Hope of a Better Past”
Elbert Hubbard? Thomas Carlyle? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Working for a living consumes enormous amounts of time and energy. If you wish to be happy in life then it is essential to try and obtain happiness from your work. Would you please determine who created an adage expressing this idea? Reply from Quote Investigator: …
Creator: Thomas Carlyle, Scottish philosopher, historian, and satirist Context: The book “Past and Present” by Carlyle contains the following passage which metaphorically contrasts a swamp and a meadow. Emphasis added: Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness. He has a work, a life-purpose; he has found it, and …
Adlai Stevenson? William Randolph Hearst? Chauncey Depew? Asa W. Tenney? Harold Wilson? Michael Douglas? Gordon Gekko? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Several politicians have attacked the prevarications of opponents by employing a quip from a family of humorous sayings. Here are two examples: A statement of this type has been credited to U.S. Senator and …
Creator: Emily Dickinson, prominent U.S. poet Context: The quotation occurred within a letter from Dickinson dated 1874 that appeared in a collection of missives published posthumously in 1894. The letter was sent to a cousin who was not named. Emphasis added to this excerpt: Affection is like bread, unnoticed till we starve, and then we …
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Oscar Wilde? Michael Cunningham? Robert Klitzman? Robert Michels? Frank Underwood? Kevin Spacey? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: While reading about the precipitous downfall of an influential literary tastemaker and powerbroker at “The Paris Review” I encountered once again a remark attributed to Oscar Wilde. Here are three versions: The Wilde ascription is often labeled …
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Laurence Olivier? Homer Fickett? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The acclaimed actor Laurence Olivier performed many different roles during his long career. He said something like: Scratch an actor, and you’ll find an actor. Would you please help me to find a citation? Did he originate this statement? Reply from Quote Investigator: Laurence Olivier did …
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Dorothy Parker? Walter Winchell? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Dorothy Parker was well known for her sometimes controversial witticisms. Apparently, one of her remarks was based on clichés about the vanity, mannerisms, and/or sexuality of actors. Would you please examine this topic? Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in the …
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Creator: Wilson Mizner, playwright, entrepreneur, adventurer Context: Mizner died in 1933. A biography of his colorful life appeared in 1935 called “The Fabulous Wilson Mizner” by Edward Dean Sullivan. The chapter “Miznerisms” was dedicated to his witticisms. Here were three. Emphasis added to excerpts: I am a stylist—and the most beautiful sentence I have ever …