Tracing Quotations
Jonathan Swift? Samuel Taylor Coleridge? Alexander Pope? Théophile de Viau? Matthew Prior? Pierre de Ronsard? Scévole de Sainte-Marthe? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: According to legend a famous literary figure was accosted by a philistine who exclaimed that all poets were fools. The adroit spontaneous response provided a humorous comeuppance: Sir, I admit your general …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: You Yourself May Serve To Show It, That Every Fool Is Not a Poet”
Tom Petty? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a piece of controversial advice aimed at college students that I have long suspected was created by an undergraduate to sabotage his fellow students. It contains the suggestion: You have four years to be irresponsible here, relax. Work is for people with jobs. Usually the words …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: You Have Four Years To Be Irresponsible Here. Relax”
Arthur Schopenhauer? Charles Lyell? Louis Agassiz? J. Marion Sims? Alexander von Humboldt? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: True statements and ideas are often not recognized initially; instead, the process of acceptance is long and circuitous. One popular adage highlights three stages for the recognition of truth: The prominent German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer is usually credited …
Ernest Hemingway? Leonard Cohen? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Benjamin Blood? Rumi? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: It is impossible to avoid all pain and suffering during a lifetime, but I believe that our setbacks have a larger meaning and purpose. The famous author Ernest Hemingway reportedly said the following: We are all broken. That’s how the …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: We Are All Broken. That’s How the Light Gets In”
Hermann Oberth? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Engineer Hermann Oberth was an extraordinary pioneer in the fields of rocketry and astronautics. Provocatively, he conjectured that Earth was being visited by spaceships from another solar system. I saw a fascinating quotation about the development of advanced technology that was attributed to him in a book about …
Yogi Berra? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: An entertaining tale states that baseball great Yogi Berra was once honored at a ceremony extolling his athletic skills. He knew of his obligation to give a speech after the receipt of the accolades and gifts, and his prepared remarks included a statement thanking everyone for making the …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Thank All of You for Making This Night Necessary”
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Sam Elliott? Ethan Coen? Joel Coen? Bertrand W. Sinclair? Carl O. Sauer? Roger Penske? Jim Croce? Preacher Roe? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a family of ursine sayings about the topsy-turvy vicissitudes of life: 1) Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.2) Sometimes you hunt the …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Sometimes You Eat the Bear, and Sometimes the Bear Eats You”
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 …
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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Know I Was Writing Stories When I Was Five”
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 …