Ernest Hemingway? W. L. Sheldon? Hindu Proverb? Khryter? Seneca? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A quotation about “true nobility” attributed to the Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway suggests that one should avoid comparing oneself to others. I haven’t been able to find a solid citation. Would you please trace this aphorism? Reply from Quote Investigator: …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Anecdote Origin: Send Them The Bedbug Letter
Letter Recipient: Miles Poindexter? Frank Crane? John Phillips? Hugh Ironpants Johnson? Question for Quote Investigator: Would you please explore the provenance of a story called “The Bedbug Letter” about a revelatory customer relations blunder? Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest evidence known to QI appeared on June 12, 1913 in multiple newspapers such as “The …
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Anecdote Origin: Knowing Where To Tap
A Fired Machinist? Charles R. Wiers? Hubert N. Alyea? Charles Proteus Steinmetz? Henry Ford? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular anecdote highlights the extraordinary value of properly applying specialized knowledge. A top-expert is hired to fix a gigantic complicated machine suffering from an intractable problem. The adroit practitioner repairs the contraption with a simple …
Quote Origin: Sure, We’ll Have Fascism in This Country, and We’ll Call It Anti-Fascism
Huey Long? Winston Churchill? Bruce Bliven? H. L. Mencken? Lawrence Dennis? Jimmy Street? Robert Cantwell? Lawrence Dennis? Halford Luccock Question for Quote Investigator: The famous populist Huey Long and British leader Winston Churchill have both been credited with a bold prediction about political deception. Here are two versions: Would you please investigate? Reply from Quote …
Quote Origin: Creativity Is Intelligence Having Fun
Albert Einstein? George Scialabba? Joey Reiman? John C. Maxwell? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: An invigorating comment about creativity is often credited to the universally recognized scientific genius Albert Einstein: Creativity is intelligence having fun. Are these really the words of Einstein? Reply from Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence that Einstein who died …
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Quote Origin: I Owe All My Success in Life to Having Been Always a Quarter of an Hour Before My Time
Horatio Nelson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Horatio Nelson was a famous British naval hero who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Apparently, he believed that advance readiness was crucial to his success. He said that he owed everything to always being fifteen or twenty minutes early. Would you please help me to …
Quote Origin: Friendship Itself Will Not Stand the Strain of Very Much Good Advice for Very Long
Robert Wilson Lynd? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Providing copious assertive advice to a friend can jeopardize the relationship especially when the advice has not been solicited. The Irish journalist and essayist Robert Lynd crafted a remark about these strains with a humorous edge. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from …
Quote Origin: Good Judgment Depends Mostly on Experience and Experience Usually Comes from Poor Judgment
Rita Mae Brown? Will Rogers? Fred Rose? C. H. White? Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.? Uncle Zeke? Barry LePatner? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Good judgement is rooted in experience, but a humorous addendum notes that the crucible of experience is poor judgment. This notion has been credited to humorist Will Rogers and activist Rita Mae …
Quote Origin: Write Something, Even If It’s Just a Suicide Note
Gore Vidal? Lucinda Ebersole? Rand B. Lee? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Aspiring authors are typically told to set aside enough time to make writing into a daily habit. The provocative author Gore Vidal apparently employed an extreme version of this injunction: Write something, even if it’s just a suicide note. Did Vidal coin this …
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Quote Origin: There’s Damn Few Girls as Well Shaped as a Fine Horse
Hannah Arendt? Christopher Morley? Kitty Foyle? Rosey Rittenhouse? Question for Quote Investigator: While looking through a compilation of quotations about horses I came across the following: Few girls are as well shaped as a good horse. Inexplicably, the words were ascribed to the political theorist Hannah Arendt who wrote about the Nazi Adolf Eichmann and …
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