Tracing Quotations
Samuel Johnson? C. S. Lewis? Peggy Noonan? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: People often know what they should be doing. A didactic lecture is not required. Instead, a simple reminder is adequate to inspire appropriate action. Here are four examples from a family of pertinent sayings: (1) Men more frequently require to be reminded than …
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Finley Peter Dunne? Martin Dooley? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: One should be generous when conveying trust, but one should not be gullible or naïve. One must take precautions and defend oneself. An adage from the domain of card games presents this viewpoint: Trust everybody, but cut the cards. This notion has been attributed to …
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Nicolas Chamfort? Charles de Talleyrand? Catherine Gore? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A student is taught numerous topics during a formal education, yet most details are swiftly forgotten once schooling is completed. A wit composed the following candid remark: All that I’ve learned, I’ve forgotten. The little that I still know, I’ve guessed. This saying …
Mark Twain? Frank Marshall White? Albert Bigelow Paine? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous anecdote about the humorist Mark Twain occurred when he was an elderly gentleman. A prominent newspaper reported that Twain was either gravely ill or dead. Journalists rushed to learn more about the story, and they found that Twain was still …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated”
Jean-Paul Sartre? George Carlin? Slavoj Žižek? O. O. McIntyre? Sewell Ford? Billy Wilder? Leo Rosten? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Philosophers, linguists, and humorists enjoy the following joke about tacit knowledge: A person enters a café and requests coffee without cream. After a delay the waiter returns and says “I’m sorry. We’re out of cream. …
Fyodor Dostoevsky? Prince Myshkin? Constance Garnett? Henry Carlisle? Olga Carlisle? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A major literary figure once wrote about the connection between children and spiritual health. Here are two versions: (1) The soul is healed by being with children.(2) Through children the soul is healed. This remark has been attributed to the …
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Winston Churchill? Harold Nicolson? Paddy Leigh Fermor? Anthony Montague Browne? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: According to legend a British statesman was once criticized for disregarding naval tradition. The statesman responded with the following zinger: The only traditions of the Royal Navy are rum, sodomy, and the lash. This line has been attributed to Winston …
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Walt Willis? Zorima? Raymond Duncan’s Wife? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The “appeal to nature” argument asserts that something which is natural is good, and something which is unnatural is bad. This style of reasoning has produced the following entertaining statements: (1) If God wanted us to wear clothes, we would have been born that …
Israel Zangwill? G. K. Chesterton? George Bernard Shaw? William Thomas Stead? H. G. Wells? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Intellectuals often think very highly of themselves. One wit satirized this self-absorption with the following quip: The way he believes in himself is very refreshing in these atheistic days when so many believe in no God …
Alexander Martin Sullivan? Marshall Hall? Henry Harte Barry? John Chute Neligan? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular anecdote in legal circles concerns a lawyer who was representing a client from a rural area. The judge condescendingly asked the lawyer whether the client was familiar with a legal doctrine which was identified via a pompous Latin …