Yogi Berra? J. F. Shaw Kennedy? Charles Lee? Punch Magazine? Clarence Day? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A comical remark about funeral attendance has been attributed to the baseball great Yogi Berra: Always go to other people’s funerals; otherwise they won’t go to yours. A simple interpretation seems to require ghosts to attend a future …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: Writing Is the Art of Applying the Seat of the Pants to the Seat of the Chair
Sinclair Lewis? Mary Heaton Vorse? Felicia Gizycka? Robert Benchley? Douglas Fairbanks Jr.? Marianne Gingher? Stevie Cameron? Andrew Hudgins? Nora Roberts? Stephen King? Oliver Stone? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: An astonishingly simple stratagem has been recommended to anyone who wishes to become a famous author, playwright, screenwriter, or composer. The secret to success and productivity …
Quote Origin: It’s Not What You See That Is Suspect, But How You Interpret What You See
Isaac Asimov? John A. Keel? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator Recently, I read a book called “The Mothman Prophecies” which discussed mysterious sightings of a human-sized moth-like creature in West Virginia in the 1960s. There are many ways to attempt to interpret bizarre and enigmatic visions. The book included an intriguing quotation attributed to the …
Quote Origin: The First Draft of Anything Is Shit
Ernest Hemingway? Arnold Samuelson? Bernard Malamud? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The prose style of the famous author Ernest Hemingway was spare and direct, but to achieve that form he often worked through multiple drafts. A pungent remark about rewriting has been attributed to the Nobel Prize winner. Here are three versions: The first draft …
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Quote Origin: That’s Not Writing; That’s Just Typing
Truman Capote? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The authors of The Beat Generation were an influential disaffected group whose works jolted the culture of 1950s America. The spontaneous prose technique employed by the central figure Jack Kerouac in the composition of his 1957 novel “On the Road” was acclaimed and disparaged. The most trenchant criticism …
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Quote Origin: History Is Just One Damn Thing after Another
Arnold J. Toynbee? Max Plowman? H. A. L. Fisher? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous historian Arnold J. Toynbee wrote a monumental 12-volume work titled “A Study of History” in which he delineated the trajectories of several major human civilizations. Surprisingly, a comically depreciatory definition of history is attributed to him. Here are two …
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Quote Origin: Lyricist Versus Composer: The Song “Ol’ Man River”
Oscar Hammerstein II? Dorothy Hammerstein? Leonard Lyons? Question for Quote Investigator: The division of credit between music composers and lyricists can be controversial. Some lyricists believe that their song writing skills are not given adequate respect. One vivid anecdote revealed the unhappiness of Dorothy Hammerstein who was the wife of the prominent Broadway song creator …
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Quote Origin: Insanity Is Hereditary. You Can Get It from Your Children
Sam Levenson? Oscar Levant? W. C. Fields? Helen Gorn Sutin? Dave Berg? Ann Landers? Erma Bombeck? Grace Kelly? Question for Quote Investigator: Many parents concur with a very funny quip that reverses the traditional notion of inheritance: Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids. This joke has been attributed to the newspaper columnist …
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Quote Origin: People Who Like This Sort of Thing Will Find This the Sort of Thing They Like
Abraham Lincoln? Artemus Ward? George Bernard Shaw? Max Beerbohm? Muriel Spark? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular anecdote asserts that Abraham Lincoln was obliged to listen to a prolix lecture about spiritualism by an enthusiastic friend. After the discourse was complete, Lincoln’s opinion was sought, and he replied with a humorously redundant non-committal statement designed …
Quote Origin: Youth Is Wasted on the Young
George Bernard Shaw? Oscar Wilde? Irvin Cobb? Michel de Montaigne? John Brunner? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A very popular acerbic adage combines wisdom and wistfulness together with a modicum of jealousy: Youth is wasted on the young. These words have been attributed to two famous Irish wits: George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde. Oddly, …
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