Tracing Quotations
Charlie Chaplin? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The cinema icon Charlie Chaplin depicted comic and tragic situations in his films, and he also experienced both in his personal life. One of his memorable quotations metaphorically employed the film director terms closeup and longshot to contrast tragedy and comedy. Would you help me to find a …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Life is a Tragedy when Seen in Closeup, But a Comedy in Longshot”
William Ralph Inge? John Brunner? Bishop of Ripon? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There are two different types of fools. One naively embraces and extolls everything that is old; the other credulously praises everything that is new. This insight has been ascribed to William Ralph Inge who was a professor at Cambridge and Dean of …
Edgar Allan Poe? Ted Olson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a verse stating that only one person out of one-hundred is actively working toward making bold dreams come true. This notion has been ascribed to the horror master Edgar Allan Poe. Are you familiar with this verse? Would you please examine this topic? …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: It’s Easy Enough, My Friend, to Dream of Utopian Worlds Afar…”
Margaret Atwood? Posy Simmonds? Guy Bellamy? Marilyn Duckworth? R. D. Laing? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following quotation may be morbid, but I still consider it cleverly humorous: Life is a sexually transmitted terminal disease. Would you please explore its provenance? Reply from Quote Investigator: Tracing this statement is difficult because it emerged from …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Life Is a Sexually Transmitted Terminal Disease”
George Bernard Shaw? Otto Penzler? James Thurber? Harold Ross? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Reportedly, George Bernard Shaw once presented an idiosyncratic list of the three most famous individuals: Jesus Christ, Sherlock Holmes, and Harry Houdini. Did Shaw really put forward this triptych? Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest evidence known to QI appeared in …
H. Croccoquill? Alfred Crowquill? Alfred Henry Forrester? Question for Quote Investigator: I recently encountered an insightful quotation that begins: Don’t allow idleness to deceive you. . . Someone with the unusual name “H. Croccoquill” was credited, but I have been unable to learn anything about him or her. Is this ascription accurate? Reply from Quote …
Arthur C. Clarke? Carleton Ray? Ann Henderson-Sellers? James E. Lovelock? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The water covering our planet makes it look like a blue marble in pictures taken from outer space. Roughly three-quarters of the surface is enveloped in H₂O in liquid or frozen form. The science fiction luminary Arthur C. Clarke suggested …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Planet “Earth” Should Have Been Called Planet “Sea””
Winston Churchill? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Scientists have successfully produced meat in culture without the need to grow an entire animal. Apparently, long ago Winston Churchill envisioned this possibility, and he predicted that chicken wings would be created without growing a full chicken. Would you please locate Churchill’s remarks on this topic? Reply from …
Prophet: Harriet Martineau? William Tweed? John Tyndall? Auguste Comte? Robert G. Ingersoll? Karl Marx? Charles Darwin? Herbert Spencer? Henry George Atkinson? Paul Dirac? Felix Adler? Critic: Mark Twain? Douglas William Jerrold? George Grote? J. P. Jacobsen? Isaac M. Wise? Wolfgang Pauli? Question for Quote Investigator: The prominent physicist Paul Dirac was hostile toward religion, and …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: There Is No God, and Harriet Martineau Is His Prophet”
Albert Einstein? H. M. Harwood? R. Gore-Browne? John Conwell? Estelle Getty? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Did Albert Einstein’s genius extend from physics to psychology? The following remark has been ascribed to him: Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are …