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: …
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Quote Origin: Blessed Is He Who Has Found His Work; Let Him Ask No Other Blessedness
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 …
Quote Origin: If You Stop Telling Lies About Us We Will Stop Telling the Truth About You
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 …
Quote Origin: We Turn Not Older With Years, But Newer Every Day
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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Quote Origin: Everything Is About Sex Except Sex. Sex Is About Power
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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Quote Origin: Scratch an Actor and Underneath You’ll Find Another Actor
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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Quote Origin: Scratch an Actor and You’ll Find an Actress
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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Quote Origin: A Dramatic Critic Is a Guy Who Surprises the Playwright by Informing Him What He Meant
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 …
Quote Origin: I Know of a Cure for Everything: Salt Water . . . Sweat, or Tears, or the Salt Sea
Isak Dinesen? Tania Blixen? Karen Blixen? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The three best ways to overcome a difficulty are: (1) performing hard physical labor, (2) crying to achieve emotional release, or (3) visiting the ocean. The prominent author Isak Dinesen apparently crafted a lovely formulation for this advice: The cure for anything is salt …
Quote Origin: Point of View Is Worth 80 IQ Points
Alan Kay? Andy Hertzfeld? Michael Eisner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The Roman numeral system is powerful enough to express numbers such as 1776 (MDCCLXXVI), but the system is terrible for performing arithmetic operations such as division. A fresh perspective is required. A positional system such as the decimal numeral system is dramatically superior for …
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