Maya Angelou? Joan Walsh Anglund? William Hazlitt? Alfred Lord Tennyson? Jimmie Allison? Lou Holtz? Question for Quote Investigator: In 2015 the U.S. Postal Service released a controversial commemorative stamp featuring the prominent author Maya Angelou which displayed the following words: A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a …
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Quote Origin: Lovers: They Sing a Song Only You Can Hear
Oscar Wilde? CosmoGIRL? L. G. McVean? William J. Locke? Elizabeth Cooper? Holiday Mathis? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a popular saying about the intimate connection between people who are in love that has been attributed to the famous wit Oscar Wilde. The closeness is expressed using an auditory metaphor: You don’t love …
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Quote Origin: Make It a Point To Do Something Every Day That You Don’t Want To Do
Mark Twain? Eleanor Roosevelt? Mary Schmich? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Mark Twain said something about doing at least one thing each day that you should do despite the fact that it makes you feel uncomfortable. I do not remember precisely how the expression was phrased. Here are two pertinent statements: Do …
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Dialogue Origin: “Which Is My Best Side, Do You Think?” “You’re Sitting On It”
Leon Shamroy? Alfred Hitchcock? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: According to Hollywood legend a vain actor or actress was deeply concerned about being photographed in a flattering manner. The following words were exchanged with a famous director: “You’re not photographing me with my best side to the camera.” “But how can I when you’re sitting …
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Quote Origin: I Can’t Understand How Anyone Can Write Without Rewriting Everything Over and Over Again
Leo Tolstoy? A. B. Goldenveizer? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: November is National Novel Writing Month; a participant is supposed to commit to writing 50,000 words during the 30 days of the month. Sustaining that pace would be difficult for me because I am irresistibly drawn to rewriting. The brilliant Russian writer Leo Tolstoy once …
Quote Origin: Make a Sentence Using the Word Horticulture
Dorothy Parker? The Virginia Spectator? The Daily Standard of Sikeston, Missouri? Alexander Woollcott? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Dorothy Parker was famous for her coruscating wit, and she once employed a notoriously bawdy pun based on the word horticulture. Was she responsible for originating this pun? Reply from Quote Investigator: There is substantive evidence that …
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Quote Origin: Love Triangles Generally Turn Out To Be Wrecktangles
Jacob M. Braude? Robert Byrne? Sally’s Sallies? Mary Pettibone Poole? Bob Burns? Jimmie Fidler? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I love terrible puns and the following is a great example: Most love triangles are wrecktangles. The quotation collector Robert Byrne included this statement in “The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said” with an attribution to …
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Quote Origin: Suppose You Call a Sheep’s Tail a Leg, How Many Legs Will the Sheep Have?
Abraham Lincoln? John W. Hulbert? Pious Clergyman? George Bradburn? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a famous riddle about the difference between a supposition and a fact: How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg. There are …
Quote Origin: Why Not Go Out On a Limb? Isn’t That Where the Fruit Is?
Mark Twain? Will Rogers? Frank Scully? Arthur F. Lenehan? H. Jackson Brown? Mother of H. Jackson Brown? Shirley MacLaine? Question for Quote Investigator: To succeed one must be willing to take risks and to enter the precarious realm of punishments and accolades. Here are four versions of an expression that appears in many self-help books: …
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Quote Origin: If What You Gave Me Last Was Tea, I Want Coffee. If It Was Coffee, I Want Tea
Abraham Lincoln? Traveler? John Randolph of Roanoke? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: According to legend when Abraham Lincoln was served a cup of unpalatable brew he made the following hilarious remark: If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee. I have not been able …