Carl Jung? Sigmund Freud? Guy Bellamy? Jolande Jacobi? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: As part of a book project I have been tracking down quotations credited to the famed psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. One of the most interesting was: Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you. The best citation I have …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
The Universe Is Full of Magical Things Patiently Waiting for Our Wits to Grow Sharper
Bertrand Russell? William Butler Yeats? Eden Phillpotts? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I adore the following quotation which is attributed to the philosopher Bertrand Russell: The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. But recently I saw a different version in which two words had been changed: The world …
Quote Origin This Is the Sort of Nonsense Up With Which I Will Not Put
Winston Churchill? Rudy Vallee? Army Captain? High School Teacher? The Strand Magazine? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: My question concerns a memorable anecdote about the statesman Winston Churchill and the fine points of grammar. In the past many books offering grammatical advice told readers that they must never end a sentence with a preposition. Years …
Continue reading “Quote Origin This Is the Sort of Nonsense Up With Which I Will Not Put”
I’ve Had a Perfectly Wonderful Evening, But This Wasn’t It
Groucho Marx? A. E. Thomas? Beatrice Faber? Sidney Skolsky? Hugh Herbert? Walter Catlett? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: When Groucho Marx was leaving a boring party he supposedly said: I have had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it. Did Groucho really insult a host or hostess in this way, or did he use this …
Continue reading “I’ve Had a Perfectly Wonderful Evening, But This Wasn’t It”
He Has Achieved Success Who Has Lived Well, Laughed Often and Loved Much
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Bessie A. Stanley? Albert Edward Wiggam? Harry Emerson Fosdick? Ann Landers? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: In church this morning I listened to a short discourse on the definition of success. It began: To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the …
Continue reading “He Has Achieved Success Who Has Lived Well, Laughed Often and Loved Much”
The Climate Is What You Expect; The Weather Is What You Get
Mark Twain? Robert Heinlein? A Schoolchild? Caroline B. Le Row? Andrew John Herbertson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I am preparing a book about the weather and climate, and I would like to include the following quotation: The climate is what you expect; the weather is what you get. Several web sites attribute this remark to …
Continue reading “The Climate Is What You Expect; The Weather Is What You Get”
Absinthe: After the First Glass, You See Things As You Wish They Were
Oscar Wilde? Ada Leverson? Leslie Stokes? Violet Wyndham? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The alcoholic psychoactive drink absinthe was banned in the United States and many European countries in the previous century. But now it is legal again. Supposedly, the brilliant wit Oscar Wilde once discussed the phantasmagorical effects of the potion. His description began: After …
Continue reading “Absinthe: After the First Glass, You See Things As You Wish They Were”
Jump Off the Cliff and Build Your Wings on the Way Down
Ray Bradbury? Franco Mancassola? Kurt Vonnegut? Annie Dillard? Anonymous? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The influential publisher Tim O’Reilly recently tweeted a great quotation about entrepreneurship that was used in a commencement address given by DJ Patil, a Data Scientist at a venture capital company. Here is an excerpt from the speech given at the University …
Continue reading “Jump Off the Cliff and Build Your Wings on the Way Down”
Stethoscope: That It Will Ever Come Into General Use Is Extremely Doubtful
John Forbes? René Laënnec? The Times of London? Anonymous? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Sometimes the value and importance of an invention is misunderstood. Consider the following quotation about a newly introduced medical device in the 1800s: That it will ever come into general use, notwithstanding its value, is extremely doubtful; because its beneficial application requires …
Continue reading “Stethoscope: That It Will Ever Come Into General Use Is Extremely Doubtful”
Hollywood: They’ll Pay You a Thousand Dollars for a Kiss, and Fifty Cents for Your Soul
Marilyn Monroe? Ben Hecht? Milton Greene? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The legendary screen star Marilyn Monroe was ambivalent about her fame. She supposedly said the following: Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul. Is this an accurate quotation? Do you know where …