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 …
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Quote Origin: It Is the Mark of a Truly Intelligent Person To Be Moved By Statistics
George Bernard Shaw? Bertrand Russell? Oscar Wilde? John H. Gibbons? Apocryphal? Question for 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 …
Quote Origin: I Will Send a Barrel of This Wonderful Whiskey to Every General in the Army
Abraham Lincoln? Charles G. Halpine? Anonymous? Apocryphal? Question for 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? Reply from Quote Investigator: The …
Quote Origin: My Mind Is Made Up. Don’t Confuse Me With the Facts
Roy S. Durstine? Fred Gymer? Ed Place? Earl Landgrebe? Anonymous? Question for 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 …
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Quote Origin: I Rob Banks Because That’s Where the Money Is
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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Quote Origin: People are Like Tea Bags. You Never Know How Strong They Are Until You Put Them in Hot Water
Hillary Clinton? Eleanor Roosevelt? Rita Mae Brown? Phyllis Schlafly? Lowell Bruce Laingen? Armand J. Gariepy? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I read in the New York Times that one of the favorite adages of Hillary Clinton, former Senator and Secretary of State, is the following statement attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt: Women are like tea bags. …
Quote Origin: Live Fast, Die Young, and Leave a Beautiful Corpse
James Dean? John Derek? Willard Motley? Irene L. Luce? J. M. O’Connor? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: James Dean was a charismatic young movie star and an icon of rebellion when he died in a car crash. I have always connected him to this motto: Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse. But …
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Quote Origin: Things Are More Like They Are Now Than They Have Ever Been
Dwight D. Eisenhower? Gerald Ford? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: President Dwight D. Eisenhower is commonly credited with making a comical statement that is almost a tautology. Here are a few different versions of his supposed remark: Things are more like they are right now than they ever have been.Things are more like they are …
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Quote Origin: For Sale, Baby Shoes, Never Worn
Ernest Hemingway? William R. Kane? Roy K. Moulton? Avery Hopwood? Arthur C. Clarke? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Most people are familiar with short stories, but there is another class of works that might be called short-short stories. “Flash fiction” and “sudden fiction” are labels that are applied to this style of literature. One of …
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Quote Origin: The Second Mouse Gets the Cheese
Stephen Wright? Ernst Berg? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I am trying to discover where the following maxim comes from: The second mouse gets the cheese. Sometimes this phrase appears as part of a longer saying: The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. Your help would be greatly appreciated. …
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