Alexander Graham Bell? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The brilliant inventor Alexander Graham Bell helped to create the first practical telephone. He is often credited with the following inspiring statement: Don’t keep forever on the public road. Leave the beaten track behind occasionally and dive into the woods. You will be certain to find something …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: For Attractive Lips, Speak Words of Kindness
Audrey Hepburn? Sam Levenson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Audrey Hepburn was a magnificent movie star, and she was also a well-known worker for humanitarian causes. On various websites I have seen a collection of sayings called “Time Tested Beauty Tips” that have been attributed to her. The first tip says: For attractive lips, speak …
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Quote Origin: Nostalgia Is Not What It Used To Be
Yogi Berra? Simone Signoret? Peter De Vries? Tommy Handley & Ronald Frankau? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Holidays sometimes make me nostalgic. They also remind me of the following clever quip: Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be. These words are often attributed to the famed baseball quotemaster Yogi Berra, but recently I learned of …
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Quote Origin: When I Was Younger, I Could Remember Anything, Whether It Had Happened or Not
Mark Twain? Albert Bigelow Paine? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Mark Twain formulated a wonderful expression about the fallibility of memory as one grows older. Here is the beginning of his humorous saying: When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not. My own memory may be failing because I …
Quote Origin: If Tetris Has Taught Me Anything, It’s That Errors Pile Up and Accomplishments Disappear
@AlexeSixx? @_NanooChii? @ Soumi_S? @MissMagdo? @damana? Question for Quote Investigator: I have spent hours playing the quasi-hypnotic computer game Tetris. The following astutely funny remark reveals the subversive lesson of the game: If Tetris has taught me anything, it’s that errors pile up and accomplishments disappear. I have seen this statement tweeted and retweeted many …
Quote Origin: I Used To Be Snow White, But I Drifted
Mae West? A College Student? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The actress, screenwriter, and sex symbol Mae West was well-known for delivering double entendres. Here are two examples of clever lines with multiple meanings: I was once pure as snow, but then I drifted.I used to be Snow White but I drifted. Did Mae West …
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Quote Origin: Comedy Is Tragedy Plus Time
Carol Burnett? Woody Allen? Tig Notaro? Steve Allen? Lenny Bruce? Bob Newhart? Thomas Hardy? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Some humorists are able to transform disastrous or mortifying episodes in their own lives into hilarious comedy routines. Usually some time must pass before a painful memory is distant enough that it can be transmuted into …
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Quote Origin: It Isn’t the Mountain Ahead That Wears You Out; It Is the Grain of Sand in Your Shoe
Muhammad Ali? Robert W. Service? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following quotation about perseverance is attributed to the famed boxer Muhammad Ali: It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe. While I was researching this phrase I came across another version that was attributed to …
Quote Origin: We Are Made of Star-Stuff
Carl Sagan? Albert Durrant Watson? Doris Lessing? Harlow Shapley? Vincent Cronin? Ancient Serbian Proverb? William E. Barton? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The chemical elements of life such as carbon, magnesium, and calcium were originally created in the interior furnaces of stars and then released by stellar explosions. This fact can be expressed with a …
Quote Origin: Quotation Is a Serviceable Substitute for Wit
Oscar Wilde? W. Somerset Maugham? George Bernard Shaw? Voltaire? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I thought you might enjoy the following remark attributed to Oscar Wilde: Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit. I saw this on the goodreads website, but the source of the saying was not listed. Further searching led to the following …
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