Muhammad Ali? Robert W. Service? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following quotation about perseverance is attributed to the famed boxer Muhammad Ali: It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe. While I was researching this phrase I came across another version that was attributed to the …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
We Are Made of Star-Stuff
Carl Sagan? Albert Durrant Watson? Doris Lessing? Harlow Shapley? Vincent Cronin? Ancient Serbian Proverb? William E. Barton? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The chemical elements of life such as carbon, magnesium, and calcium were originally created in the interior furnaces of stars and then released by stellar explosions. This fact can be expressed with a beautiful …
Quotation Is a Serviceable Substitute for Wit
Oscar Wilde? W. Somerset Maugham? George Bernard Shaw? Voltaire? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: I thought you might enjoy the following remark attributed to Oscar Wilde: Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit. I saw this on the goodreads website, but the source of the saying was not listed. Further searching led to the following similar …
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Your Manuscript Is Good and Original, But What is Original Is Not Good; What Is Good Is Not Original
Samuel Johnson? Martin Sherlock? Johann Heinrich Voss? Gotthold Ephraim Lessing? Richard Brinsley Sheridan? Daniel Webster? Samuel Wilberforce Dear Quote Investigator: The great lexicographer Dr. Samuel Johnson is credited with a famously devastating remark about a book he was evaluating: Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, …
Any Idiot Can Face a Crisis; It’s This Day-To-Day Living That Wears You Out
Anton Chekhov? Clifford Odets? Bing Crosby? George Seaton? Jean Webster? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Anton Chekhov, the brilliant Russian writer of stories and plays, reportedly said the following: Any idiot can face a crisis; it’s this day-to-day living that wears you out. I have been unable to locate a source for this statement. I even …
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When He Turned Out the Light He Was in Bed Before the Room Was Dark
Muhammad Ali? Satchel Paige? Cool Papa Bell? Hablarias? Moran and Mack? Abbott and Costello? Anonymous? Dear Quote investigator: Renowned heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali was famous for his witty remarks which included humorous boasts such as this: I’m so fast I hit the light switch in my room and jump into bed before my room …
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Showing Up Is 80 Percent of Life
Woody Allen? Marshall Brickman? Donkey Hotey? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I am trying to track down the origin of a quotation about success in life that has divaricated into many versions. Here are some examples: Ninety percent of success is just showing up. Showing up is 80 percent of life. Eighty percent of success …
You Have To Kiss A Lot Of Frogs To Find Your Prince
The Stichery? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The classic fairy tale “The Frog Prince” is told with many different variations. In the most common modern version a Princess kisses a frog, and the animal is transformed into a handsome Prince. A humorous maxim has been constructed based on this scenario: You have to kiss a lot …
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Whiskey Is for Drinking; Water Is for Fighting Over
Mark Twain? Warren Neufeld? Bruce Babbitt? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Fresh water is an essential resource, and the battles over water rights in the Western region of the United States can be bruising. Famed humorist Mark Twain is often given credit for an incisively funny remark about this. Here are three versions: Whiskey is for …
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Life Is Not a Rehearsal
Drake? Lawrence T. Holman? Chet Huntley? Katharine Ross? Rose Tremain? Wayne Dyer? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: William Shakespeare said “All the world’s a stage”, and the metaphor of life as a theatrical performance has a very long history. The quotation that interests me fits in this metaphorical framework, but I think it was coined recently: …