Tracing Quotations
William Faulkner? Ernest Hemingway? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Two major writers of the twentieth century disagreed sharply about the type of vocabulary that was advantageous in literary works. According to a literary legend Faulkner attacked Hemingway by saying he had “no courage”. Hemingway’s tightly circumscribed word choice was pedestrian. Hemingway punched back by stating …
Continue reading “Anecdote Origin: The Dictionary Feud of Faulkner versus Hemingway”
Lynn Johnston? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The Canadian cartoonist Lynn Johnston has crafted a wonderful metaphor equating the reparative quality of apologies to superglue. Her statement is very popular on the web, but no one seems to know the precise phrasing; also, I have never seen a solid citation. Would you please trace this …
Tallulah Bankhead? Merle Miller? Tennessee Williams? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The funniest one-line review of a movie I have ever encountered is the following: Darling, they’ve absolutely ruined your perfectly dreadful play. According to a show-business legend, the movie star Tallulah Bankhead delivered this mortifying judgement to the famous playwright Tennessee Williams when she …
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Henry Ford? Samuel Crowther? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The failure of a project is often disheartening, but some self-help and inspirational texts highlight a quotation that presents a positive interpretation to the setback: Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently. This statement has been attributed to the assembly-line innovator and industrial titan …
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Martin Luther King Jr.? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A speech by the civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. included a section about the importance of altruism versus selfishness; he posed the following question: What are you doing for others? Would you please help me to locate this quotation? Reply from Quote Investigator: The …
Maya Angelou? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I once read a piece by the prominent memoirist and poet Maya Angelou that contained a fascinating simile depicting jealousy in a love affair as a spice or salt because it enhanced the flavor of the relationship. I have not been able to relocate this passage, and now …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Jealousy in Romance Is Like Salt in Food”
Groucho Marx? Ethel Barrymore? Maurice Barrymore? Paul M. Potter? Gertrude Battles Lane? John Lennon? Joe E. Lewis? Robert Heinlein? Marilyn Manson? Augustus John? Oscar Wilde? Question for Quote Investigator: There is well-known and often repeated admonition directed at young people who are making too much noise: Children should be seen and not heard. Wordplay has …
Calvin Coolidge? Theodore Thornton Munger? M. M. Callen? Orison Swett Marden? Edward H. Hart? Question for Quote Investigator: Many books extolling self-improvement include a didactic passage that begins as follows: Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; …
Calvin Coolidge? Frank B. Noyes? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: President Calvin Coolidge was known as “Silent Cal” because of his extraordinarily laconic speech. A famous anecdote tells of a dinner party during which the person sitting adjacent to the Coolidge said: “Mr. President I’ve made a large bet that I would be able to …
Continue reading “Dialogue Origin: “I Bet I Could Get Three Words Out of You.” “You Lose.””
Madison Avenue? Doctor’s Advice? Graffito? Dick Sharples? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: When I strained a muscle recently a friend told me that the injury was nature’s way of telling me to slow down. Another friend quipped: Death is nature’s way of telling you to slow down. Would you please explore this adage? Reply from …
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