Tracing Quotations
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 …
Creator: John Ciardi, U.S. poet, translator, and critic Context: For many years Ciardi was an editor and columnist at “The Saturday Review”. He crafted several adages for the piece he published on September 24, 1966. Here is a sampling with emphasis added: What we need most to know about public servants is the identity of …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: There Is Nothing Wrong With Sobriety In Moderation”
Creator: Edward Bulwer-Lytton, popular and prolific English writer Context: Bulwer-Lytton wrote on this theme in 1848 within his novel “The Caxtons” which was serialized in “Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine”. A character in the story employed antimetabole cleverly when imparting guidance. Emphasis added to excerpt: My father no longer sought to curb my intellectual aspirings. He had …
Grace Hopper? Cardinal Barberini? Earl of Peterborough? David Hernandez? Helen Pajama? St. Benedict? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: People who are eager to initiate a task often cite the following guidance. Here are two versions: This notion has been credited to Grace Murray Hopper who was a U.S. Navy Rear Admiral and pioneering computer scientist. …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: It’s Easier To Ask Forgiveness Than To Get Permission”
Gautama Buddha? Buddhaghosa? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Feelings and actions driven by anger and resentment are self-destructive. This notion can be metaphorically illustrated by a red-hot coal which one grabs with the goal of striking another person. The poorly conceived plan causes one’s hand to suffer burns and pain. This figurative framework has been …
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”