Tracing Quotations
Mae West? Aristophanes? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Screenwriter and sex symbol Mae West is usually credited with the following ribald line: Is that a pistol in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me? But I have seen many variations of this comical remark: Can you determine which joke is the original …
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Henry Kissinger? Wallace Sayre? Charles Frankel? Samuel Johnson? Jesse Unruh? Courtney Brown? Laurence J. Peter? Question for Quote Investigator: The following saying is often attributed to the prominent U.S. foreign policy figure and Nobel laureate Henry Kissinger: Academic politics are so vicious precisely because the stakes are so small. But I have also seen it …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Academic Politics Are So Vicious Because the Stakes Are So Small”
Edgar Allan Poe? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: On a popular website I saw an intriguing list of “Indispensable Writing Tips from Famous Authors”. The following words were attributed to Edgar Allan Poe, the master of mystery and the macabre: A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it. …
Voltaire? Niccolò Machiavelli? Newgate Prisoner? Wilson Mizner? Dying Irishman? Canny Scot? Aging Rock Star? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: While reading speeches given by Nobel Prize recipients I came across an entertaining anecdote about Voltaire from the eminent economist Robert E. Lucas: When Voltaire was dying, in his eighties, a priest in attendance called upon …
Continue reading “Origin of Deathbed Remark: This Is No Time To Be Making New Enemies”
W. C. Fields? Stephen Leacock? Justin J. Burns? Henry Morgan? George Burns? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A well-known saying about persistence has become an energyless cliché: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. The following parody version is usually attributed to the famous comedian W. C. Fields: If at first you don’t …
Mary Schmich? Eleanor Roosevelt? Kurt Vonnegut? Baz Luhrmann? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Jane Addams? Mark Toby? Question for Quote Investigator: To achieve personal growth it is sometimes necessary to move outside of a comfort zone. Unjustified fears can constrain exploration and positive development. Here is a saying I find valuable: Do one thing every day that …
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Raymond Chandler? James M. Cain? Alan Moore? William S. Burroughs? Larry Niven? Stephen King? Elmore Leonard? William Faulkner? Owen Sheers? Question for Quote Investigator: I have heard the following anecdote told about Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Stephen King, and Elmore Leonard. A journalist once visited the house of a popular author who had sold …
Zig Ziglar? Jean Sibelius? Bengt de Törne? Martha Graham? Agnes De Mille? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: When the famous motivational speaker Zig Ziglar died last year I saw a list of ten quotations ascribed to him. One was about criticism: There has never been a statue erected to honor a critic. I thought this …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: A Statue Has Never Been Set Up in Honour of a Critic”
Alfred Hitchcock? Leonard Lyons? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Alfred Hitchcock was one of the greatest movie directors of the twentieth century in my opinion. A controversial quotation about actors has long been attributed to him: All actors are cattle. Did he really say this? Who was he speaking to? Reply from Quote Investigator: There …
Anton Chekhov? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently I was reading a collection of writing tips designed for neophyte scribblers, and I came across a valuable piece of advice that was attributed to Anton Chekhov: Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. I have seen this …