Tracing Quotations
Joseph Campbell? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Joseph Campbell was renowned for teaching about the mythologies of many cultures. The following statement is often ascribed to him: The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek. I have looked through several of his books and have not located this quote. Did he say …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Cave You Fear to Enter Holds the Treasure You Seek”
Walt Disney? Diane Disney Miller? Pete Martin? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Animator, producer, and entrepreneur Walt Disney suffered many setbacks before he became a world-famous entertainer. For example, he founded the Laugh-O-Gram company to make animated films in Missouri, and the pioneering studio ended up in bankruptcy. Disney learned from his mistakes and persevered, …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: A Kick in the Teeth May Be the Best Thing in the World for You”
Noah Webster? Samuel Johnson? Chauncey Depew? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a ribald anecdote about one of the world’s greatest dictionary makers that I would like you to explore. The tale claims that the lexicographer Noah Webster had a secret libertine inclination. One day his wife returned home and was shocked to discover …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: You Are Astonished. I Am Surprised”
Marcus Tullius Cicero? Taylor Caldwell? Otto E. Passman? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: In 2011 a host on the cable channel CNN said this: Is America still the land of opportunity, or is it Rome before the fall? You decide. Cicero is believed to have said something like this in 55 B.C. “The arrogance of …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Budget Should Be Balanced; The Treasury Should Be Refilled”
Judge Dowdall? William Pickford? Lord Sterndale? Anonymous? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Some lawyers take pride in their use of rigorous logical and legal reasoning. I once heard a hilarious remark about the body of law accumulated over the centuries. I do not remember the exact wording, but it was something like this: The entire …
Helen Keller? Anne Sullivan? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Helen Keller was once asked about the price she would pay to gain the sense of sight. Her reported response was thoughtful and poignant: I would rather walk with a friend in the dark than walk alone in the light. What were the circumstances surrounding this …
W. Somerset Maugham? Oscar Wilde? Mark Twain? Bret Harte? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: With the rapid growth of ebooks it seems that everyone is writing a book. Here is the funniest advice I have heard on this topic: There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. Several …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: There Are Three Rules for the Writing of a Novel”
Al Capp? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The cartoonist Al Capp was famous for creating the long-running comic strip Li’l Abner. During the 1960s he reportedly described abstract art with the following amusing and acerbic phrase: A product of the untalented sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered. Today this description could be applied …
Adam Smith? Everett Dean Martin? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Multiple books and websites attribute the following quotation to the influential economic thinker Adam Smith, but I think the ascription is incorrect: As soon as government management begins it upsets the natural equilibrium of industrial relations, and each interference only requires further bureaucratic control until …
Hunter Davies? Mike Smith? Dick Rowe? Brian Epstein? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: In the early days of the Beatles a record executive evaluated the band to decide whether to offer them a contract. He supposedly said: We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out. I have heard some other …