Tracing Quotations
Kenneth Holmes? Frank Crane? Hugh Barrett Dobbs? Sister Mary Xavier? Sybil F. Partridge? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is an inspirational essay called “Just for Today” that I have seen on many websites. It consists of a series of suggestions or guidelines. There are many versions, but one common example begins with the following statements: …
Continue reading “Just for Today, I Will Try to Live Through This Day Only”
Winston Churchill? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: My question is about a quotation spotlighted in a recent news story. Two massive power companies merged and this caused a boardroom battle. The CEO, Bill Johnson, of the combined enterprise was abruptly ousted. Johnson reportedly alienated his new board members by using a saying attributed to Winston Churchill. …
Continue reading “I Am Always Ready to Learn, Although I Do Not Always Like Being Taught”
Thomas Jefferson? Coleman Cox? Stephen Leacock? Samuel Goldwyn? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a humorously insightful quotation about luck that is often credited to the American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson: I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. The class notes of a course …
Continue reading “I’m a Great Believer in Luck. The Harder I Work, the More Luck I Have”
Helen Keller? Anne Sullivan? John Macy? Margaret Davidson? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The remarkable story of Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan has been told in books, television programs, and movies. Keller who was deaf and blind learned to communicate, obtained a college degree, and became a notable speaker and author. The following poignant …
Continue reading “The Best and Most Beautiful Things in the World Cannot Be Seen Nor Even Touched”
Abraham Lincoln? Adlai Stevenson? Edward J. Stieglitz? Edward Barrett Warman? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There are posters, shirts, mugs, and other commercial products displaying the following inspirational quote: And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln is credited with this aphorism, but …
Continue reading “It’s Not the Years in Your Life That Count. It’s the Life in Your Years”
Frank Sinatra? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: I greatly enjoy the singing of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, so I was surprised to hear that Sinatra once attacked the type of music that Elvis popularized. Supposedly Sinatra said: Rock n Roll is the most brutal, ugly, desperate, vicious form of expression it has been my misfortune …
Continue reading “Rock n Roll: The Most Brutal, Ugly, Degenerate, Vicious Form of Expression”
Yogi Berra? George Lichty? Buddy Blattner? Joe Garagiola? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Famed baseball player Yogi Berra is credited with many hilarious remarks. Once Yogi was driving to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York with some other players. After passing the same landmark three times a fellow player named Joe Garagiola …
Carl Jung? Sigmund Freud? Guy Bellamy? Jolande Jacobi? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: As part of a book project I have been tracking down quotations credited to the famed psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. One of the most interesting was: Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you. The best citation I have …
Bertrand Russell? William Butler Yeats? Eden Phillpotts? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I adore the following quotation which is attributed to the philosopher Bertrand Russell: The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. But recently I saw a different version in which two words had been changed: The world …
Winston Churchill? Rudy Vallee? Army Captain? High School Teacher? The Strand Magazine? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: My question concerns a memorable anecdote about the statesman Winston Churchill and the fine points of grammar. In the past many books offering grammatical advice told readers that they must never end a sentence with a preposition. Years ago …
Continue reading “This Is the Sort of Nonsense Up With Which I Will Not Put”