Florence Kerns? Ray Hallinan? Herb Caen? Pauline Tymon? Larry Pickard? David Crosby? Joe Bob Briggs? Al Franken? Stuart Smalley? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The Saturday Night Live television program once featured skits with a character named Stuart Smalley who was played by the comedian and former senator Al Franken. Smalley was enamored with self-help programs …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Everybody Steals in Commerce and Industry. I’ve Stolen A Lot Myself
Thomas Edison? Martin André Rosanoff? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: While reading a novel about the remarkable inventor Nikola Tesla I came across a statement credited to Thomas Edison that I find very hard to believe [TLDS]: Everyone steals in commerce and industry. I’ve stolen a lot, myself. But I know how to steal! They don’t …
Continue reading “Everybody Steals in Commerce and Industry. I’ve Stolen A Lot Myself”
Life is What Happens To You While You’re Busy Making Other Plans
John Lennon? Allen Saunders? Quin Ryan? Walter Ward? Henry Cooke? Robert Balzer? L. S. McCandless? Publilius Syrus? Thomas a Kempis? William Gaddis? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently, a medical emergency threw all my carefully constructed plans into complete disarray. I was reminded of a remarkably astute and ruefully humorous saying credited to the musical superstar …
Continue reading “Life is What Happens To You While You’re Busy Making Other Plans”
Clothes Make the Man. Naked People Have Little or No Influence in Society
Mark Twain? Merle Johnson? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Comments about stylish clothing always remind me of Mark Twain’s comment: Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society. But I cannot seem to find any direct reference for this quote. The best citation I have seen was dated more than fifteen …
Continue reading “Clothes Make the Man. Naked People Have Little or No Influence in Society”
Laughter Would Be Bereaved If Snobbery Died
James Ussher? Peter Ustinov? Arland Ussher? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The Times of London has a regular Quote-of-the-Day feature called “Last Word”. My question is about the following insightful quotation [TLJU]: Laughter would be bereft if snobbery died. The newspaper credited this remark to Archbishop James Ussher who lived between 1581 and 1656. Ussher …
Continue reading “Laughter Would Be Bereaved If Snobbery Died”
No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent
Eleanor Roosevelt? Reader’s Digest? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a remarkably insightful statement about self-esteem that is usually credited to Eleanor Roosevelt, the diplomat and former First Lady: No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. This is one of my favorite quotations, but I have not been able to determine …
Continue reading “No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent”
If I Had More Time, I Would Have Written a Shorter Letter
Blaise Pascal? John Locke? Benjamin Franklin? Henry David Thoreau? Cicero? Woodrow Wilson? Dear Quote Investigator: I was planning to end a letter with the following remark: If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter. But the number of different people credited with this comment is so numerous that an explanatory appendix …
Continue reading “If I Had More Time, I Would Have Written a Shorter Letter”
Students Today Can’t Prepare Bark to Calculate Their Problems
Teachers’ Conference in 1703? The Rural American Teacher of 1929? Gene Zirkel? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Everyone who works in the area formed by the intersection of education and technology has probably seen a hilarious collection of quotations that outlines the remarkable historical changes in education. Last month I saw these quotes, yet again, in …
Continue reading “Students Today Can’t Prepare Bark to Calculate Their Problems”
Hell! there ain’t no rules around here! We are tryin’ to accomplish somep’n!
Thomas Edison? Martin André Rosanoff? Apocryphal? Dear Quote investigator: All the rules and regulations of the modern world can be quite aggravating. That is why I greatly enjoy the following quotation proclaimed by Thomas Edison to the employees in his Menlo Park laboratory: Hell, there are no rules here. We’re trying to accomplish something. I …
Continue reading “Hell! there ain’t no rules around here! We are tryin’ to accomplish somep’n!”
Taxes Are What We Pay for Civilized Society
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.? Vermont Legislature? Albert Bushnell Hart? IRS Building? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: It is tax time in the U.S., and I have a question about the inscription engraved on the exterior of the IRS Building in Washington D.C.: Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society The IRS website credited the …
Continue reading “Taxes Are What We Pay for Civilized Society”