Tracing Quotations
Walter Kerr? Groucho Marx? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Comedies rarely win prestigious awards. Critics are unaccountably hostile to works that make them guffaw. Groucho Marx once described a critic who laughed heartily and repeatedly during the performance of a play, yet crafted and published an excoriating newspaper review the next day using the barbed …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Spent a Good Part of Last Evening Laughing at a Very Bad Play”
C. S. Lewis? Les Brown? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous fantasy author C. S. Lewis has been credited with an encouraging statement aimed at seniors: You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. I haven’t been able to find a citation. Is this ascription accurate? Reply …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: You Are Never Too Old To Set Another Goal or To Dream a New Dream”
Dorothy Parker? Corey Ford? John Keats? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Apparently, the famous wit Dorothy Parker was once asked why she had selected the curious name Onan for her pet canary. She replied: Because he spills his seed on the ground. What is the veracity of this tale? Reply from Quote Investigator: The biblical …
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Benjamin Franklin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently, I came across an insightful saying about psychology: Three of the hardest entities are steel, a diamond, and self-knowledge. Would you please help me to determine the originator? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1750 statesman Benjamin Franklin included an instance in “Poor Richard’s Almanack”. The word “extremely” …
Albert Einstein? Truman Twill? Lyndon B. Johnson? Laurence J. Peter? Paul A. Freund? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Many sayings attributed to the scientific genius Albert Einstein concern the mind. Here is a funny example: If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign? …
J. K. Turner? Newton A. Fuessle? Edward Earle Purinton? William C. McCraw? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Office workers whose desks are covered with a jumble of papers are criticized with the following adage. Here are three versions: World you please investigate this saying? Reply from Quote Investigator: This maxim is difficult to trace because …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: A Cluttered Desk Produces a Cluttered Mind”
Ethel Barrymore? Madge Kendal? J. H. Ellis? Lilian Braithwaite? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous actress Ethel Barrymore was asked to list the requirements for success in the theater. She specified remarkable qualities such as the beauty of Venus and the intelligence of Minerva. The final crucial precondition was an ability to ignore criticism. …
Heywood Broun? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The popular embrace or condemnation of an artwork is often transitory. Artists and critics speculate about the judgement of posterity, but that future evaluation may be just as flawed as the current viewpoint. I love this insightful remark: Posterity is as likely to be wrong as anybody else. …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Posterity Is As Likely To Be Wrong As Anybody Else”
Asylum Inmate? Lester Ridenhour? Leo Aikman? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: According to legend an automobile driver noticed that a tire was going flat, and pulled over to the side of a lonely road adjacent to a tall metal fence. While replacing the tire with a spare the apprehensive driver removed the four lug nuts …
Continue reading “Anecdote Origin: Lug Nuts: I’m Here Because I’m Crazy; Not Stupid”
Winston Churchill? Voltaire? Julian Amery? Ronald Reagan? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: According to legend a political rival of Winston Churchill was once praised with the description “He is a modest man.” Churchill responded with the quip “He has much to be modest about.” Would you please investigate this tale? Reply from Quote Investigator: Clement …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: He Is a Modest Man Who Has a Great Deal To Be Modest About”