Tracing Quotations
Oscar Wilde? Frank Harris? Irish Barrister? Wilton Lackaye? Margaret Waters? Well-Known Young Clubman? Gustav Traub? Mike Romanoff? Samuel George Blythe? Arthur M. Binstead? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The scintillating conversationalist Oscar Wilde enjoyed modifying dusty platitudes to construct comical alternatives. For example, he reportedly permuted an old complaint about the working class to yield: …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Work is the Curse of the Drinking Classes”
Elizabeth I. Adamson? Ronald Knox? Ronald Reagan? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a definition that refers to the two ends of a baby. One end consists of a loud voice or a big appetite, and the other end is given a comical description. Are you familiar with this joke? Would you please research its …
Isaac Asimov? Robert Silverberg? Andrew J. Offutt? Harlan Ellison? David Gerrold? David Langford? Frederik Pohl? Anonymous Fan? Dear Quote Investigator: The popular science fiction authors Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg were both famously prolific. Apparently, one of them delivered the following quip: I had a writing block once. It was the worst 20 minutes of …
Continue reading “I Had a Writing Block Once. It Was the Worst 20 Minutes of My Life”
Victor Hugo? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: I am authoring a book that discusses marble, and I’ve found an apposite quotation ascribed to the French literary titan Victor Hugo author of “Les Misérables” and “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”. He employed antimetabole while comparing marble to human flesh. I have not been able to find solid citations …
Erma Bombeck? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Television is filled with athletic events during the winter holiday season. A hypnotized sports addict could stare at the tube for hours on end. A caustic remark about this behavior was apparently crafted by the humorist Erma Bombeck: Anybody who watches three games of football in a row should …
James Matthew Barrie? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The Scottish playwright and novelist J. M. Barrie created the beloved fictional world of Peter Pan and Wendy. He also offered cogent advice about not ascribing excessively malign intentions to your antagonists. Are you familiar with this saying? Do you know when it was spoken? Quote Investigator: In …
Continue reading “Never Ascribe to an Opponent Motives Meaner than Your Own”
Robert Heinlein? Napoleon Bonaparte? Ayn Rand? David Hume? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Robert J. Hanlon? Arthur Cushman McGiffert? William James Laidlay? Ernst Haeckel? Thomas F. Woodlock? Nick Diamos? Dear Quote Investigator: It is easy to impute hostility to the actions of others when a situation is actually unclear. A popular insightful adage attempts to constrain …
Continue reading “Never Attribute to Malice That Which Is Adequately Explained by Stupidity”
Erma Bombeck? Paul Dickson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Recently, while sitting in the waiting room of a medical office I noticed that the potted plants were in dire condition. This was a bad omen, and I vaguely recall a joke about this situation. Can you help? Quote Investigator: The humorist Erma Bombeck wrote a widely …
Continue reading “Never Go To a Doctor Whose Office Plants Have Died”
Erma Bombeck? Woody Allen? L. M. Boyd? Mark Hatfield? David B. Whitlock? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: If you or a loved one has faced cancer then the following assertion would be understandable: The most beautiful word in the English language is ‘benign’. This notion has been attributed to two well-known humorists Erma Bombeck and Woody …
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John Dryden? Frederick Langbridge? Tryon Edwards? Nathanael Emmons? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A remarkably insightful statement about patterns of behavior is usually credited to the famous English poet John Dryden who died in 1700: We first make our habits, and then our habits make us. I have not been able to find a solid citation. …
Continue reading “We First Make Our Habits and Then Our Habits Make Us”