Tracing Quotations
James Kirkwood Jr.? Ronald Reagan? Ken Kesey? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a famous joke about a child who wakes up on Christmas morning and is surprised to find a heap of horse manure under the tree instead of a collection of presents. Yet, the child is not discouraged because he has an …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: There Must Be a Pony Somewhere”
Abraham Lincoln? Jacques Abbadie? Denis Diderot? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: One of the most famous sayings attributed to Abraham Lincoln is about deception: You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. I was astounded …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: You Cannot Fool All the People All the Time”
John A. Shedd? Grace Hopper? Albert Einstein? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: On December 9, 2013 the Google Doodle honored the pioneering computer scientist and U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. Here are two versions of a quotation that is often attributed to her: A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: A Ship in Harbor Is Safe, But that Is Not What Ships Are Built For”
Miriam Hopkins? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: While watching the television show “The Voice” a friend told me about an entertaining zinger. One singer was trying to impress another singer by describing an insurance policy: Singer 1: “I Insured My Voice for One Million Dollars.” Singer 2: “Wonderful! What Did You Do with the Money?” …
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following quotation about the value of exercise is attributed to the transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson: When you have worn out your shoes, the strength of the shoe leather has passed into the fiber of your body. I searched for this expression in a database of …
Harry Truman? A. C. Wilson? Adolf Hitler? Richard H. Leask? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following maxim is attributed to President Harry Truman: If you can’t convince them, confuse them Did Truman really say this? It seems inconsistent with his personality because he was often lauded for being plain spoken and not dissimulating. Reply …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: If You Can’t Convince Them, Confuse Them”
Frank Lloyd Wright? John Mason Brown? Henri Peyre? Fred Allen? Dick Cavett? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The most acerbic criticism I have heard directed at TV was attributed to the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright: Television is just chewing gum for the eyes. However, I recently saw the remark credited to a drama critic …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Television Is Chewing Gum for the Eyes”
Samuel Goldwyn? Ted Robinson? Nine-Year-Old in Cleveland Heights? Jake ‘Malaprop’ Mintz? Question for Quote Investigator: It is flu season, and when a co-worker called in sick recently a friend said that he probably had the “intentional flu”. I had never heard this wordplay on “intestinal flu†before, but my knowledgeable friend stated that this quip …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Have Been Laid Up With Intentional Flu”
Yogi Berra? Desi Arnaz? Carl Brandt? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following anecdote is told about baseball great Yogi Berra. He received a telephone call very early in the morning, and the caller apologetically said, “I hope I didn’t wake you.” Yogi replied: Nah, I had to get up to answer the phone anyway. …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Had to Get Up to Answer the Phone Anyway”
George Eliot? Adelaide Anne Procter? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: My favorite quotation about untapped potential and enduring spirit is attributed to the prominent Victorian novelist George Eliot: It is never too late to be what you might have been. This popular saying has been printed on refrigerator magnets, posters, shirts, and key chains. …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: It’s Never Too Late To Be What You Might Have Been”