Tracing Quotations
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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: As Years Come In and Years Go Out, I Totter Toward the Tomb”
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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Writing Well Is the Best Revenge”
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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Born with a Silver Foot in His or Her Mouth”
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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: This World Is the Lunatic Asylum of the Universe”
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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: To My Embarrassment I Was Born in Bed with a Lady”
Warren Buffett? Todd Combs? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Warren Buffett is one of the wealthiest individuals in the history of the world. His lengthy record of successful investing is remarkable. Apparently, he was once asked for guidance and offered this suggestion: Read five-hundred pages every day. I haven’t been able to find a citation. …
William Ralph Inge? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The number of people on planet Earth has grown to the remarkably large figure of 7.5 billion. A passage in the Book of Genesis of the King James Bible encourages fertility: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the …
William Ralph Inge? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I once heard the humorous claim that recorded history may be divided into two parts: Would you please explore the provenance of this observation? Reply from Quote Investigator: William Ralph Inge was Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London and a professor of divinity at Cambridge. Dean …
Mark Twain? Dick Nolan? Ad Schuster? Betty Carpenter? Bumper Sticker? Jake Ford? Bill Quraishi? John Wallner? Robin Williams? Barry Levinson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The number of sayings spuriously ascribed to Mark Twain seems to grow every year. Here are two versions of a remark credited to the famous son of Hannibal, Missouri: The …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Politicians Are Like Diapers. They Should Be Changed Regularly”
Mark Twain? Lyman Beecher Stowe? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following eccentric dietary advice has been attributed to the famous humorist Mark Twain: Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside. I question whether Twain said this because no one …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Eat Whatever You Like and Let Them Fight It Out Inside”