Tracing Quotations
Winston Churchill? Theodore Roosevelt? Zig Ziglar? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I work in an office where they hang inspirational posters on the wall. The caption of one sign credits the following words to the master orator Winston Churchill: Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. I think that the person who created …
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A. A. Milne? Alfred E. Neuman? Winnie the Pooh? The Foolish Almanak? Theodor Rosyfelt? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I saw the following entertaining quotation on several websites where it was ascribed to the Winnie-the-Pooh character of the author A. A. Milne: People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day. I searched for …
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Steve Jobs? Pablo Picasso? T. S. Eliot? W. H. Davenport Adams? Lionel Trilling? Igor Stravinsky? William Faulkner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The gifted entrepreneur Steve Jobs made some controversial comments about innovation during his career. He expressed strong agreement with the following aphorism which he ascribed to the famous painter Pablo Picasso: Good artists …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Good Artists Copy; Great Artists Steal”
Joseph Campbell? Ogden Nash? Brendan Gill? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Here is a quick question. Which of the following quotations is accurate? There is not one shred of evidence that life is serious. —Joseph Campbell There is not a shred of evidence that life is serious —Ogden Nash Not a shred of evidence exists in …
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Dorothy Parker? Douglass Malluch? Douglas Malloch? Henry James? Credit Man for a New York Hat House? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: During a recent discussion with friends we tried to construct a list of great jokes that will be obsolete within a few decades. Here is one that is credited to the famous wit Dorothy Parker …
Continue reading “The Two Most Beautiful Words in the English Language Are “Check Enclosed””
George Orwell? V. G. Venturini? David Hoffman? Charlotte Despard? Antonio Gramsci? Anonymous? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: In 1949 George Orwell described a nightmarish future in his classic dystopian novel 1984. There is a popular quotation that is supposed to be contained within this work, but it is not there. Here are three versions: Maybe …
George Bernard Shaw? Bertrand Russell? Oscar Wilde? John H. Gibbons? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following quotation is used by speakers who are planning to project a series of slides that are filled with statistics. The words are credited to the famous dramatist and intellectual George Bernard Shaw. Here are two versions: The sign of …
Continue reading “It Is the Mark of a Truly Intelligent Person To Be Moved By Statistics”
Abraham Lincoln? Charles G. Halpine? Anonymous? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a brilliant anecdote about President Lincoln defending General Grant from an accusation of drunkenness. I have read conflicting statements about whether this anecdote is accurate. Perhaps you could examine this tale for the next Presidents’ Day holiday? Quote Investigator: The story of Abraham …
Continue reading “I Will Send a Barrel of This Wonderful Whiskey to Every General in the Army”
Roy S. Durstine? Fred Gymer? Ed Place? Earl Landgrebe? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a funny saying that illustrates and lampoons the notion of holding an irrationally obstinate opinion: My mind is made up. Don’t confuse me with the facts. Apparently a legislator actually said something like this during the period when members of …
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Willie Sutton? Paul Perritt? Robert M. Yoder? Fred Curran? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous criminal Willie Sutton was once asked why he robbed banks, and his reported response was simple, eloquent, and humorous: Because that’s where the money is. Now, I have been told that Sutton never really said this. Instead, it was …
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