Tracing Quotations
George Bernard Shaw? Abba Eban? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a popular phrase used to criticize individuals and groups. Here are three examples: Some politicians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. He never missed an occasion of losing an opportunity. This group loses no chance to miss an opportunity. Can you …
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William Faulkner? Peter De Vries? Herman Wouk? W. Somerset Maugham? Jane Yolen? Raymond Chandler? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: As a writer I find the following quotation about motivation both amusing and invigorating: I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning. I have seen these …
Mark Twain? Miss Manners? Judith Martin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I am considering using a quotation that is attributed to Mark Twain in the conclusion of my Master’s Thesis about social media. Unfortunately, I have been unable to verify the ascription, and the origin of the expression is uncertain: Let us make a special …
Mark Twain? Christian Nestell Bovee? Eva Alice? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently I clicked on a link that led to a top business-oriented website and was greeted by an interstitial page that displayed a quotation attributed to Mark Twain: Kindness is a language which the deaf and the blind can read. I thought this …
Alexander Pope? Samuel Johnson? Jonathan Swift? John Dennis? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I have heard several versions of a quotation that is beloved by people who dislike puns: (1) He who would make a pun would pick a pocket. (2) A man who will pun, will pick a pocket. (3) A man who could …
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Robert Benchley? Lon Robinson? Joseph Charles Salak? Bruce Caldwell? H. M. Stansifer? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Some people never know when to stop talking. I wish more people knew about the following quotation. Here are two versions: Drawing on my fine command of language, I said nothing. Drawing on my fine command of the …
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Niels Bohr? Samuel Goldwyn? K. K. Steincke? Robert Storm Petersen? Yogi Berra? Mark Twain? Nostradamus? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a family of popular humorous sayings about the formidable task of successful prognostication. Here are five examples: Of course, a prediction is inherently about the future, and the modifiers “especially” and “particularly” emphasize …
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Max Beerbohm? Rupert Brooke? Philip Guedalla? Oscar Wilde? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I have heard two distinct, humorous, and antithetical sayings about the composition of history: 1) History repeats itself, and the historians repeat each other 2) History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat each other. Statements of this type have been attributed …
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Oscar Wilde? Myron W. Reed? Will Rogers? Charlie Carter? Question for Quote Investigator: Several weeks ago I saw an article with the following humorous title: Why Arianna’s Talk Was the Best I’ve Ever Slept Through The piece was actually a very positive assessment and summary of a talk delivered by Arianna Huffington, founder of The …
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Yogi Berra? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Would you please explore another Yogiism? The following comical remark is attributed to the celebrated baseball player: Never answer an anonymous letter. If the letter contains no information about the sender then, of course, it is impossible to reply. That is the humorous interpretation. But Yogi Berra once …
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