Tallulah Bankhead? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The movie star Tallulah Bankhead apparently grew tired of seeing misquotations, and she proclaimed that any quotation ascribed to her was inaccurate: …except if it is funny, in which case I definitely said it. I thought you might enjoy this topic. What do you think? Reply from Quote …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: I Know I Was Writing Stories When I Was Five
P. G. Wodehouse? John Gardner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The popular and prolific humorist P. G. Wodehouse created indelible characters such as Bertie Wooster and Reginald Jeeves. Wodehouse apparently claimed that he was a remarkably precocious author: I know I was writing stories when I was five. I haven’t been able to find a …
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Quote Origin: Conspiracy Is the Pursuance of Policies Which They Dare Not Admit in Public
Mark Twain? Ossip Gabrilowitsch? Clara Clemens? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I’m conducting a research check on a television script containing a definition for the term “conspiracy” credited to Mark Twain. The definition notes that the conspiring participants “dare not admit in public” the secret agreement. Are you familiar with this quotation? Is the attribution …
Quote Origin: There Are No Atheists in Foxholes
Plato? Michel de Montaigne? Hannah More? C. V. Hibbard? Warren J. Clear? Ruth Straub? William Thomas Cummings? Ernie Pyle? Anonymous Chaplain? Anonymous Soldier? Question for Quote Investigator: When exposed to extreme peril many people reflect on the spiritual or supernatural dimension of existence. The following sayings have been particularly popular during times of war. Here …
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Quote Origin: I Do Not Believe in Ghosts Because I Have Seen Too Many of Them
Samuel Taylor Coleridge? Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley? Don Marquis? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: While perusing the book “Dim Wit: The Stupidest Quotes of All Time” I came across an entertaining topic for Halloween in the following entry about a famous poet: Samuel Taylor Coleridge was asked, “Do you believe in ghosts?” “No, ma’am,” he replied, …
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Quote Origin: The Love You Give Away Is the Only Love You Keep
Elbert Hubbard? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I’m intrigued by the following counter-intuitive adage: The love we give away is the only love we keep. Would you please explore its provenance? Reply from Quote Investigator: Elbert Hubbard was the founder of a community of artisans called Roycrofters who were located in East Aurora, New …
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I Do Not Believe in Ghosts, But I Am Awfully Afraid of Them
Edgar Allan Poe? Germaine de Staël? Bert Leston Taylor? Charles A. Dana? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a family of quips that express a comically contradictory attitude toward specters. Here are three instances: I do not believe in ghosts, but I am awfully afraid of them. I don’t believe in ghosts, but I’ve …
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Quote Origin: When You’re Accustomed to Privilege, Equality Feels Like Oppression
Stephanie Herrera? Chris Boeskool? Mike Jebbett? Jesse Alan Downs? Brian Sims? Clay Shirky? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Activists have formulated an adage about privilege that has achieved wide distribution: When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression Would you please examine its provenance? Reply from Quote Investigator: This thought can be expressed in …
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Quote Origin: Leave Him With a Favorable Opinion of Himself
Samuel Taylor Coleridge? Tryon Edwards? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: My favorite poem is “Kubla Khan; or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I love the poem’s opium inspired image of a “stately pleasure dome”. Serendipitously, I came across an insightful remark ascribed to Coleridge that contrasted different types of …
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Quote Origin: When Painters Get Together They Talk About Where You Can Buy the Best Turpentine
Pablo Picasso? Jean Renoir? Garson Kanin? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Critics discuss abstruse theories of creativity and engage in esoteric scrutiny of aesthetics while artists are primarily concerned with the practical. Admittedly, this is an oversimplification. Here is a statement that makes a similar point: When art critics get together they talk about form …