Mary Pettibone Poole? W. E. Nesom? George F. Worts? H. L. Mencken? Joe Laurie Jr.? Franklin P. Adams? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a famous proverb that asserts the last person to laugh is the person who laughs the best or the longest. I am interested in a cleverly modified statement emphasizing the …
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Quote Origin: To Fulfill a Dream, To Be Allowed to Sweat over Lovely Labor, To Be Given the Chance To Create, Is the Meat and Potatoes of Life. The Money Is the Gravy
Bette Davis? Richard Branson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: In 2014 Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of the Virgin Group, wrote an essay discussing some of his favorite quotations. One motivational remark about creating and fulfilling a dream was attributed to the Hollywood star Bette Davis. Are you familiar with this quotation? Would you please …
Quote Origin: My Ancestors Didn’t Come Over on the Mayflower. They Were Just Standing There When It Docked
Will Rogers? J. J. Swartz? Owen Davis? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The enormously popular American humorist Will Rogers had some ancestors who were Cherokee Indians, and apparently one of his jokes was about his forebears and the early European colonists who arrived on the Mayflower. Are you familiar with this quip? Was it really …
Quote Origin: Good Girls Keep Diaries; Bad Girls Don’t Have the Time
Tallulah Bankhead? Herb Stein? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: You have previously examined a quotation attributed to the movie star Tallulah Bankhead. Perhaps you would be willing to look at another quip. Here are two versions: 1) Only good girls keep diaries. Bad girls don’t have time. 2) It’s the good girls who keep diaries; …
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Quote Origin: Every Child Is an Artist. The Problem Is How to Remain an Artist Once He or She Grows Up
John Lennon? Pablo Picasso? Carleton Noyes? Percy Mackaye? Dudley Crafts Watson? Agnes Snyder? Ricky Gervais? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: When a child is supplied with paint, clay, paper, and scissors he or she will experiment and construct images and figures. The artistic impulse is strong in the early years of life, but sadly it …
Quote Origin: The Best Lack All Conviction While the Worst Are Full of Passionate Intensity
William Butler Yeats? Bertrand Russell? Charles Bukowski? Question for Quote Investigator: Have you ever been absolutely certain about a fact and later determined that you were completely wrong? If you learn from that experience you become less arrogant and more empathetic. I wish more people would achieve this form of personal growth. Here are three …
Quote Origin: The Most Exciting Phrase in Science Is Not ‘Eureka!’ But ‘That’s Funny’
Isaac Asimov? Gordon Rattray Taylor? Alexander Fleming? Archimedes? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous phrase uttered by an inventor or scientist when making a major discovery is “Eureka!” That was the cry of the ancient Greek sage Archimedes. Yet, a clever contrarian has asserted that the remark preceding a breakthrough reflects surprise and uncertainty …
Quote Origin: Shoot Them Now, While They’re Happy
Dorothy Parker? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The brilliant wit Dorothy Parker’s career was based on writing. She composed screenplays in Hollywood, and she authored columns for the magazines “Esquire” and “The New Yorker”. Yet, she was not always happy with her literary livelihood. Recently on Pinterest I saw a piece of comically lethal acerbic …
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Quote Origin: Firearms Stand Next in Importance to the Constitution Itself. They Are the American People’s Liberty Teeth and Keystone Under Independence
George Washington? C. S. Wheatley? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Are you familiar with the “liberty teeth” speech attributed to George Washington? Researchers have been unable to find evidence that Washington delivered this address, and some phrases are apparently anachronistic. Would you please explore its provenance? Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest evidence located by …
Quote Origin: Unless You Try To Do Something Beyond What You Have Already Mastered, You Will Never Grow
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Ronald E. Osborn? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following adage about personal growth has appeared in many self-help and motivational texts: Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. Often the words are attributed to the well-known transcendental philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, but …