Tracing Quotations
Jane Austen? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous novelist Jane Austen wrote that when she was reading an enjoyable book she always found that it was too short. Would you please help me to locate this quotation? Quote Investigator: Jane Austen was born in 1775, and she began to work on a novel called “Catharine …
Continue reading “If a Book Is Well Written, I Always Find It Too Short”
Groucho Marx? Frank Parker? Marty Allen? Steve Rossi? Dorothy Shay? Ed Reed? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The comedian Groucho Marx apparently crafted a witty twist on beauty and inheritance. Here are two versions: He got his good looks from his mother. She’s a plastic surgeon. She got her good looks from her father. He’s a …
Continue reading “He Got His Good Looks from His Mother. She’s a Plastic Surgeon”
Winston Churchill? Stephen Fry? Henry James Byron? W. Davenport Adams? Aubrey Stewart? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The recent memoir by English comedian and actor Stephen Fry contains the following intriguing remark:[1] 2015 (Copyright 2014), More Fool Me: A Memoir by Stephen Fry, Chapter: The Early Days, Section: Waiting for My Man, The Overlook Press: Peter …
Continue reading “The Young Sow Wild Oats. The Old Grow Sage”
W. E. B. Du Bois? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: W. E. B. Du Bois was a prominent sociologist, historian, and civil rights activist. He spoke about the unstoppable force of a person resolved to rise, and he said: The human soul cannot be permanently chained. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote …
Charles F. Kettering? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Charles F. Kettering was a prolific inventor and the head of research for General Motors for many years. During an interview he apparently uttered a line about the future that was simultaneously humorous and insightful: We should all be concerned about the future because we will have to …
Pablo Picasso? Vincent van Gogh? Fred Beerstein? Dear Quote Investigator: You have the following inspirational saying on the website: Only one who attempts the absurd is capable of achieving the impossible. The above remark reminded me of a statement that has been attributed to two very different painters: Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh: I …
Continue reading “I Am Always Doing What I Can’t Do Yet in Order To Learn How To Do It”
Arthur C. Clarke? Bob Thaves? Evan Esar? Jonah Peretti? Paul Heskett? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke was once asked whether he believed in astrology, and he gave a facetious self-contradictory answer. I have not been able to find a solid citation. Would you please help? Quote Investigator: The …
Continue reading “I Don’t Believe in Astrology; I’m a Sagittarian and We’re Skeptical”
Albert Einstein? Al-Anon? Narcotics Anonymous? Max Nordau? George Bernard Shaw? Samuel Beckett? George A. Kelly? Rita Mae Brown? John Larroquette? Jessie Potter? Werner Erhard? Question for Quote Investigator: It’s foolish to repeat ineffective actions. One popular formulation presents this point harshly: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and …
Eleanor Roosevelt? Confucius? Chinese Proverb? William L. Watkinson? E. Pomeroy Cutler? James Keller? Oliver Wendell Holmes? Adlai Stevenson? John F. Kennedy? Charles Schulz? William Appleton Lawrence? Dear Quote Investigator: I love the emphasis on constructive action in the following saying: It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. These words have …
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Irish Saying? Levi Furbush? Harold Keating? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following expression was mentioned in the news recently: Always remember to forget the friends that proved untrue, but never forget to remember those that have stuck by you. Would you please rapidly conduct an examination of its provenance? Quote Investigator: The earliest appearance known …
Continue reading “Never Forget To Remember Those That Have Stuck By You”