Mark Twain? Tennessee Williams? Edward Gannon? Hugh A. Mulligan? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Travelers in the U.S. sometimes complain of cookie-cutter monotony. The following quip has been attributed to the prominent playwright Tennessee Williams, and the luminary Mark Twain: America has only three great cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Never Permit a Dichotomy to Rule Your Life
Pablo Picasso? Edward L. Bernays? Dear Quote Investigator: Achieving happiness is often challenging. Some people intensely dislike their work life and attempt to obtain joy elsewhere. There is a quotation that cautions against allowing this type of dichotomy to rule one’s life, and this valuable guidance has been attributed to the famous painter Pablo Picasso, …
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Looked at the Right Way It Becomes Still More Complicated
Poul Anderson? Arthur Koestler? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following statement has been called Anderson’s Law and Koestler’s motto: I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you looked at it in the right way, did not become still more complicated. The words have been attributed to the prominent science fiction author …
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Only Monarchs, Editors, and People with Tapeworms Have the Right to Use the Editorial ‘We’
Mark Twain? Robert Ingersoll? Edgar Wilson Nye? John Phoenix? George H. Derby? Roscoe Conkling? John Fiske? Horace Porter? Henry David Thoreau? Hyman G. Rickover Dear Quote Investigator: Some writers use “we” as a form of self-reference. For example, an author might state: We base our opinion on the highest authority. A comically reproachful remark about …
Quote Origin: The Difficult We Do Immediately. The Impossible Takes a Little Longer
Charles Alexandre de Calonne? Lady Aberdeen? George Santayana? Fridtjof Nansen? Nicolas Beaujon? Baron de Breteuil? Mrs. William Tilton? Dear Quote Investigator: There exists a family of entertaining sayings that cheerfully displays inordinate confidence: 1) If the thing be possible, it is already done; if impossible, it shall be done. 2) If it is simply difficult, …
When a Good Old Good Note Is Blown, All the Cats Dig It
Louis Armstrong? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The renowned jazz trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong believed in the universality of musical appeal. I think he once said: When a good note’s blown, all the cats dig it. The underlying challenge of this adage is to remain open to the appreciation of multiple musical styles and genres. …
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One Would Risk Being Disgusted If One Saw Politics, Justice, or One’s Dinner in the Making
Nicolas Chamfort? Marchand? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: You have previously examined a well-known comment comparing the construction of laws and sausages: Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made. I believe that a similar remark was made earlier by the Frenchman Nicolas Chamfort comparing justice and meals, but I have not …
The Race Is Not Always to the Swift, Nor the Battle to the Strong; But That Is the Best Way to Bet
Damon Runyon? Franklin P. Adams? Hugh E. Keough? George D. Prentice? Luke McLuke? Grantland Rice? Burns Mantle? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A famous verse in the Bible instructs readers that the advantages enjoyed by an individual do not guarantee his or her success:[1]Website: Bible Hub, Bible Translation: King James Bible, Section: Ecclesiastes, Chapter 9, Verse …
I Disapprove of What You Say, But I Will Defend to the Death Your Right to Say It
Voltaire? François-Marie Arouet? S. G. Tallentyre? Evelyn Beatrice Hall? Ignazio Silone? Douglas Young? Norbert Guterman? Dear Quote Investigator: Would you please explore a famous saying that apparently has been misattributed to Voltaire: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. The words above reportedly originated …
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It Is Better to Know Nothing than to Know What Ain’t So
Josh Billings? Artemus Ward? Will Rogers? Abraham Lincoln? Mark Twain? Friedrich Nietzsche? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Here are two versions of an expression I am trying to trace: 1) It’s better to know nothing than to know what ain’t so. 2) It is better not to know so much, than to know so many things …
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