Tracing Quotations
Benjamin Franklin? H. K. Williams? James H. Hope? E. B. Gregory? Dalton E. Brady? Robert H. Schuller? John Wooden? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Proper planning is fundamental to success. Benjamin Franklin has been credited with an admonitory aphorism. Here are three versions using “plan” and “prepare”: The memorability of this statement is enhanced by …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: If You Fail To Prepare You Are Preparing To Fail”
Creator: Margaret Atwood, prominent Canadian novelist and essayist Context: Atwood’s 2005 novella “The Penelopiad” re-envisioned the myth of Odysseus by re-centering the tale on Penelope who was the wife of the ancient hero. Penelope’s father was King Icarius of Sparta, and her mother was a Naiad, i.e., a water nymph. Commenting on her partially divine …
Nicholas Murray Butler? Tommy Lasorda? John Newbern? Laurence J. Peter? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a humorous three-fold categorization of people. The first group contains those who make things happen. Are you familiar with this saying? Would you please examine its provenance? Reply from Quote Investigator: In March 1931 Nicholas Murray Butler who …
Creator: Friedrich Nietzsche Context: In 1878 Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche published “Menschliches, Allzumenschliches: Ein Buch für Freie Geister” (“Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits”). He employed an aphoristic style that explicated topics with short numbered passages and sayings. Item number 536 consisted of the following: Werth abgeschmackter Gegner. — Man bleibt mitunter einer …
Françoise Sagan? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The French playwright and novelist Françoise Sagan whose best known novel was “Bonjour Tristesse” led a passionate and eventful life. The following remark emphasizing the duality of a literary career has been ascribed to her: I shall live badly if I do not write, and I shall write …
Sinclair Lewis? Max Herzberg? Bennett Cerf? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The American writer, social activist, and noble laureate Sinclair Lewis wondered why big audiences came to hear lectures given by authors. He humorously suggested that attendees might be hoping to see funny looking authors. Is Lewis’s self-deprecating observation genuine? Reply from Quote Investigator: In …
Creator: Dorothy L. Sayers, prominent English mystery writer, playwright, and poet Context: Sayers published the crime novel “Have His Carcase” in 1932. The quotation was spoken by Lord Peter Wimsey while he was conversing with Harriet Vane. Emphasis added to excerpts: “There’s something in that. But I’ll have to get a decent frock if there …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Always Have a Quotation for Everything—It Saves Original Thinking”
Émile Zola? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The prominent French novelist and journalist Émile Zola has been credited with an inflammatory anti-clerical statement. Here are three versions in English: Would you please explore the provenance of this remark? Reply from Quote Investigator: Émile Zola’s 1901 novel “Travail” contains a scene during which the last church …
Creator: John Ciardi, U.S. poet, translator, and critic Context: For many years Ciardi was an editor and columnist at “The Saturday Review”. For the May 26, 1962 issue he composed a set of humorously altered versions of well-known adages. Here are three examples: The original adages were: The statement under examination suggests that economic inflation …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: A Dollar Saved Is a Quarter Earned”
Abbott Lawrence Lowell? Jonathan Swift? James Pycroft? University of Michigan Students? George Edgar Vincent? Arthur MacMurray? J. Brooks Atkinson? Charles William Eliot? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The people, laboratories, and libraries of a university embody a vast storehouse of knowledge. How did this knowledge accumulate? A humorous response to this question has often been …