Tracing Quotations
Winston Churchill? Evan Esar? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following humorous definition is often attributed to the statesman Winston Churchill: A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject. Could you explore the accuracy of this ascription? Quote Investigator: There is some evidence that Winston Churchill employed this phrase circa …
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Ambrose Bierce? Alan Le May? Jack Benny? Mark Twain? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The increasing popularity of ebooks is threatening to make one of my favorite quotations obsolete. The wonderful humorist Ambrose Bierce was asked to evaluate a lengthy soporific tome and according to legend he handed in a devastating and hilarious one-line review: The …
Continue reading “The Covers of This Book Are Too Far Apart”
Dorothy Parker? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: From Fascism, Marxism, and Anarchism to Consumerism, Materialism, and Postmodernism the world has been infatuated by and convulsed by “isms”. The famous wit Dorothy Parker reportedly spoke the following line while she was writing screenplays in Hollywood: The only “ism” Hollywood really believes in is plagiarism. Did she really …
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Samuel Foote? 4th Earl of Sandwich? James Quin? John Wilkes? William Gladstone? Benjamin Disraeli? Dear Quote Investigator: The sharpest and funniest retort I know of was said in response to a harsh insult: You, sir, will certainly either die upon the gallows or of a social disease. That depends, sir, upon whether I embrace your …
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Lord Melbourne? William Windham? Benjamin Disraeli? Sydney Smith? William Lamb? Thomas B. Macaulay? Dear Quote Investigator: Each of us has encountered an individual who with highhanded convictions presents an answer to every question. There is a famous witticism aimed at a person of this type: I only wish that I was as cocksure of any …
Continue reading “I Wish I Was As Sure of Any One Thing As He is of Everything”
Oscar Wilde? Thomas Merton? Gilbert Perreira? Menards? America Ferrera? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I have spent hours trying to determine whether Oscar Wilde wrote the following as commonly claimed: Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. I have not found a single good citation. What do you think? Quote Investigator: There is no substantive …
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Groucho Marx? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Groucho Marx became famous on Broadway before moving on to starring roles in Hollywood. His comical skills and adaptability also allowed him to master radio and television. Yet, reportedly one of his sharpest remarks playfully disparaged TV: I find television very educational. Every time someone switches it on, I …
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Andrew Lang? A. E. Housman? David Ogilvy? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Too many people use statistics selectively to provide evidence for only one side of a multi-sided contentious topic. The following saying humorously illustrates this propensity: Some individuals use statistics as a drunk man uses lamp-posts — for support rather than for illumination. Do …
Mark Twain? Theodor Reik? John Robert Colombo? James Eayrs? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a popular humorous maxim about history that is usually attributed to Mark Twain. But there is so much uncertainty about this ascription that a top business columnist for the “New York Times” wrote the following:[1] 2011 June 19, New York …
Continue reading “History Does Not Repeat Itself, But It Rhymes”
Harlan Ellison? Frank Zappa? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a popular quotation that expresses the following idea: Hydrogen and stupidity are the two most abundant materials in the universe This notion can be expressed in many different ways. One version has been credited to the SF writer Harlan Ellison, and another version has been …
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