Tracing Quotations
Groucho Marx? Henry G. Strauss? Phil Harris? Joe E. Lewis? Anonymous? Topic: Smoking? Drinking? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a family of jokes about smoking, drinking, and reading. The quips certainly do not reflect the actions of role models, but they are funny: When did this family originate? Were the initial gags about smoking …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: When I Read About the Evils of Smoking, I Gave Up Reading”
Alfred Kinsey? Richard Brinsley Sheridan? Xaviera Hollander? William Burroughs? Sigmund Freud? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Years ago I read a statement credited to the researcher Alfred Kinsey who was famous for producing the Kinsey Reports on sexual behavior. I do not remember the exact phrasing but the expression was similar to this: The only …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Only Unnatural Sex Act Is That Which One Cannot Perform”
Albert Einstein? Cell Phone Critics? Pranksters? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A friend sent me a link to a message on a website with the title: “The day that Albert Einstein feared may have finally arrived”. The message showed eight pictures of groups of people looking intently at cell phone screens. The people were ignoring …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Fear the Day That Technology Will Surpass Our Human Interaction”
Carl Sagan? Newsweek Reporters? Sharon Begley? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Today on the website of a software developer I saw an inspiring quotation that was credited to the famous astronomer and science communicator Carl Sagan: Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. I would like to use this quotation also, but I have …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Somewhere, Something Incredible Is Waiting To Be Known”
Coco Chanel? Yves Saint Laurent? Diana Vreeland? Pier Luigi Nervi? Tom Stoppard? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The fashion designer Coco Chanel was brilliant and innovative. I am interested in a motto that she may have originated: Fashion passes; style remains. When did she say this? Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest close match for …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Fashion Passes; Style Remains”
Winston Churchill? Theodore Roosevelt? Zig Ziglar? Anonymous? Question for 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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Attitude Is a Little Thing That Makes a Big Difference”
A. A. Milne? Alfred E. Neuman? Winnie the Pooh? The Foolish Almanak? Theodor Rosyfelt? Anonymous? Question for 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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: People Say Nothing Is Impossible, But I Do Nothing Every Day”
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? Question for 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 …
Dorothy Parker? Douglass Malluch? Douglas Malloch? Henry James? Credit Man for a New York Hat House? Anonymous? Question for 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 …