Tracing Quotations
George Bernard Shaw and Isadora Duncan? Anatole France and Isadora Duncan? Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe? Albert Einstein and a chorus girl? George Bernard Shaw and a strange lady in Zurich? Dear Quote Investigator: Reportedly there was famous exchange between the prominent playwright George Bernard Shaw and the glamorous dancer Isadora Duncan on the topic …
Continue reading “But Suppose the Child Inherited My Beauty and Your Brains?”
Edgar Allan Poe? Rona Jaffe? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following quotation has been tweeted repeatedly, and I have seen it on Facebook and several tumblrs. The words are always ascribed to the famed poet and writer of the macabre Edgar Allan Poe: The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls. I …
Continue reading “The Scariest Monsters Are the Ones That Lurk Within Our Souls”
Ann Richards? John F. Kennedy? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a new one-woman play titled “ANN” about Ann Richards who was the Governor of Texas in the 1990s. The theatrical presentation contains a memorable line about her philosophy of government. I am not sure if I remember it exactly, but the statement is similar …
Margaret Thatcher? Ann Richards? Joel Chandler Harris? Uncle Remus? African-American folklore? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, passed away recently, and I was reminded of a pointed saying that is credited to her. Here are three versions: The cock may crow, but it’s the hen who lays …
Continue reading “The Rooster May Crow, But It’s the Hen Who Lays the Egg”
Boy’s Life magazine? Mutt and Jeff comic strip? Mulla Nasreddin? Esar’s Joke Dictionary? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a brilliant comical allegory that depicts the biases inherent in many types of scientific research: A police officer sees a drunken man intently searching the ground near a lamppost and asks him the goal of his quest. …
Continue reading ““Did You Lose the Keys Here?” “No, But the Light Is Much Better Here””
Alexander Woollcott? W. C. Fields? Frank Rand of St. Louis? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The candor of my favorite saying makes it wonderfully humorous. Here are three versions I have seen: All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. Anything in life that’s any fun is either immoral, illegal …
Continue reading “It Seems As If Anything I Like Is Either Illegal, Immoral, or Fattening”
Albert Einstein? Amos Dolbear? Matthew Kelly? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following saying is popular on Facebook where it is credited to Albert Einstein. I have also seen it on numerous websites: Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life …
Ludwig Börne? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Several websites have attributed the following quote to Ludwig Börne, yet I can find no reference to its original source: Getting rid of a delusion makes one wiser than getting hold of a truth. If you can shed any light on the source of this quote, it would be …
Continue reading “Losing An Illusion Makes One Wiser Than Finding A Truth”
Mark Twain? Nicolas Chamfort? Émile Zola? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a best-selling self-help book called “Eat That Frog!” that presents strategies to stop procrastination. The author discusses the meaning of the curious title in his introduction:[1]2007, Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by …
George Bernard Shaw? Howard Dietz? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a wonderful anecdote about a meeting between the famous movie studio chief Samuel Goldwyn and the renowned playwright George Bernard Shaw. Goldwyn flew to England to convince Shaw to write material for him to use in films. Goldwyn emphasized the high quality and the …
Continue reading “You Are Only Interested in Art and I Am Only Interested in Money”