John Godfrey Saxe? Frederick Locker-Lampson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: “The early bird catches the worm” has become an irritating cliché. I love this entertaining comical response: But the worm was punished for getting up early. Do you know who crafted this rejoinder? Quote Investigator: The work “Early Rising” appeared in the 1876 collection “The Poems …
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The Early Bird Catcheth the Worme
William Camden? Thomas Fuller? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: People who enjoy waking up early in the morning and going to work cite the following adage: The early bird gets the worm. Would you please explore the history of this expression? Quote Investigator: English historian William Camden published “Remaines Concerning Britaine” in the 17th century, and …
The Enormous Multiplication of Books in Every Branch of Knowledge is One of the Greatest Evils of This Age
Edgar Allan Poe? Alfred Smee? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The number of new books has increased vertiginously in recent years, but even in the nineteenth century critics lamented an oversupply. Did the major literary figure Edgar Allan Poe complain that the proliferation of books was “one of the greatest evils” of his age? Quote Investigator: …
Never Attempt To Teach a Pig To Sing; It Wastes Your Time and Annoys the Pig
Mark Twain? Robert Heinlein? Paul Dickson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Teaching a pig to sing is a futile task that aggravates the porcine student according to a popular saying. Luminary Mark Twain and science fiction author Robert Heinlein have received credit for this adage. Would you please determine the accurate ascription and the original context? …
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Quote Origin: Never Wrestle with a Pig. You Both Get Dirty and the Pig Likes It
George Bernard Shaw? Mark Twain? Abraham Lincoln? Cyrus Stuart Ching? J. Frank Condon? Richard P. Calhoon? N. H. Eagle? Cale Yarborough? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular metaphorical adage warns individuals not to engage with disreputable critics. Here are two versions: This saying has been credited to a triumvirate of quotation superstars: Mark Twain, …
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Don’t Wrestle with a Chimney Sweep or You Will Get Covered with Grime
William Adams? James Boswell? Walter Scott? Jonah Barrington? Viscount Bolingbroke? Henry Van Dyke? John Bright? John J. Keane? William Wedgwood Benn? Tony Benn? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: When you are attacked with falsehoods and invective it is natural to respond with abusive language; however, viewers of the interaction may feel revulsion for both the attacker …
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Quote Origin: I’ve Been Poor, and I’ve Been Rich. Rich Is Better!
Fanny Brice? Beatrice Kaufman? Joe E. Lewis? Sophie Tucker? Johnny Hyde? Jack Herbert? Harold Gray? Bernice Fitz-Gibbon? Bob Mankoff? Question for Quote Investigator: A newly wealthy person sometimes feels sentimental about an earlier period of poverty. Yet, one well-heeled individual unapologetically proclaimed: I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. And, believe me, rich is better. …
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Quote Origin: I Take My Hat Off To You as a Composer; I Put Back Ten Hats as a Man
Arturo Toscanini? Georges Clemenceau? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: According to legend the prominent conductor Arturo Toscanini expressed disrespect for the famous composer Richard Strauss during an incident in the 1930s. To understand this incident it is helpful to know that removing one’s hat was a gesture of respect in the European culture shared by …
My Life Depended on 150,000 Pieces of Equipment – Each Bought from the Lowest Bidder
Alan Shepard? John Glenn? Wernher von Braun? Gus Grissom? Gordon Cooper? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: According to legend an astronaut was asked how he felt sitting in a space capsule while preparing for launch or travelling in orbit around the Earth. He replied with a trenchant comment about equipment and low-bid contracts. Would you please …
We Cannot Direct the Wind, But We Can Adjust the Sails
Cora L. V. Hatch? Thomas Sheridan? George Whyte-Melville? A. B. Kendig? Ella Wheeler Wilcox? Bertha Calloway? Jimmy Dean? Dolly Parton? Thomas S. Monson? Dear Quote Investigator: We are buffeted by events that are beyond our control, but we can still react constructively. A popular adage highlights this flexibility: We cannot direct the wind, but we …
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