Edmund Burke? Anselme Batbie? Victor Hugo? King Oscar II of Sweden? George Bernard Shaw? François Guizot? Jules Claretie? Georges Clemenceau? Benjamin Disraeli? Winston Churchill? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Some individuals change their political orientation as they grow older. There is a family of sayings that present a mordant judgment on this ideological evolution. Here …
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Quote Origin: I Have Made an International Reputation for Myself by Thinking Once or Twice a Week
George Bernard Shaw? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous playwright, critic, and essayist George Bernard Shaw has been credited with a remark about his world-wide fame. He entertainingly stated that his acclaim rested on his ability to engage in thought once or twice a week because others attempted to think only two or three …
Quote Origin: If You Don’t Stand for Something, You’ll Fall for Anything
Alexander Hamilton? Gordon A. Eadie? Irene Dunne? Peter Marshall? Theodore DeVries? William Sloane Coffin Jr.? Alex Hamilton? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a popular exhortative statement that employs the contrasting words “stand” and “fall”. Here are three versions: (1) If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. (2) Those who stand …
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Quote Origin: Everyone Is Necessarily the Hero of His Own Life Story
John Barth? Mary McCarthy? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I am trying to locate a statement made by the prominent metafictionalist author John Barth. The quotation was similar to the following: Everyone is the hero of his own life story. Do you know where this appeared? Reply from Quote Investigator: John Barth did scribe …
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Quote Origin: We Fall Into Mutually Satisfying Weirdness and Call It Love
Dr. Seuss? Theodor Geisel? Robert Fulghum? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I hope you will be able to trace a quotation for Valentine’s Day. The statement is usually attributed to Theodor Geisel who is better known as Dr. Seuss, and it begins as follows: We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird… …
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Quote Origin: I Feel that I Am Making Daily Progress
Pablo Casals? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Pablo Casals was a brilliant cellist, and I love a remark that he reportedly made when he was in his eighties or nineties. He continued to practice intensely with his cello in those golden years, and when he was asked why he was so diligent he replied with …
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Quote Origin: Rap Is Black America’s TV Station
Chuck D? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Perhaps you can help locate a quotation attributed to the rapper Chuck D of the group Public Enemy. I do not know the exact wording, but the gist was the following: Rap music is the CNN for black people. He apparently said this during an interview in the …
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Quote Origin: There Are Two Classes of People in the World; Those Who Divide People into Two Classes and Those Who Do Not
Neil deGrasse Tyson? Robert Benchley? Kenneth Boulding? Ross F. Papprill? Groucho Marx? Jeremy Bentham? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I enjoy humor based on clever self-referential statements, and a great example is the following: There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who divide everybody into two kinds of people, and those who …
Quote Origin: Most Conversations Are Simply Monologues Delivered in the Presence of a Witness
Mark Twain? Margaret Millar? Elizabeth P. O’Connor? Rebecca West? Leo Buscaglia? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following entertaining remark is often attributed to Mark Twain: Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses. I have also seen these words ascribed to the award-winning mystery writer Margaret Millar. Could you determine who …
Quote Origin: Dance Like Nobody’s Watching
Mark Twain? Satchel Paige? William Purkey? Susanna Clark? Richard Leigh? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following words are attributed to a variety of people including Mark Twain, Satchel Paige, and William Purkey: Sing like no one is listening. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching, and live like it’s heaven on …
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