Tracing Quotations
Speaker: Gore Vidal? Peter Bogdanovich? Sue Mengers? Jason Epstein? Anonymous? Subject: Truman Capote? Elvis Presley? Michael Jackson? Gore Vidal? Question for Quote Investigator: Pop star Michael Jackson died in 2009 when he was only fifty years old. One memorably caustic remark I heard at that time was: His death was a good career move. Apparently, …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Death Was a Good Career Move”
Mohandas Gandhi? L. L. Bean? Kenneth B. Elliott? Great Western Fuel Company? Ray Noyes? Paul T. Babson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a popular business motto that is used by corporate departments of Customer Relations and Human Resources: A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on …
Thomas Edison? Walter S. Mallory? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There are many versions of a popular story about the inventor Thomas Edison. He was working on the creation of a practical light bulb or a new battery. He and his team of researchers conducted a series of unsuccessful experiments. The number of negative laboratory …
Kenneth Holmes? Frank Crane? Hugh Barrett Dobbs? Sister Mary Xavier? Sybil F. Partridge? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is an inspirational essay called “Just for Today” that I have seen on many websites. It consists of a series of suggestions or guidelines. There are many versions, but one common example begins with the following …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Just for Today, I Will Try to Live Through This Day Only”
Winston Churchill? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: My question is about a quotation spotlighted in a recent news story. Two massive power companies merged and this caused a boardroom battle. The CEO, Bill Johnson, of the combined enterprise was abruptly ousted. Johnson reportedly alienated his new board members by using a saying attributed to Winston …
Thomas Jefferson? Coleman Cox? Stephen Leacock? Samuel Goldwyn? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a humorously insightful quotation about luck that is often credited to the American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson: I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. The class notes of a …
Helen Keller? Anne Sullivan? John Macy? Margaret Davidson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The remarkable story of Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan has been told in books, television programs, and movies. Keller who was deaf and blind learned to communicate, obtained a college degree, and became a notable speaker and author. The following …
Abraham Lincoln? Adlai Stevenson? Edward J. Stieglitz? Edward Barrett Warman? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There are posters, shirts, mugs, and other commercial products displaying the following inspirational quote: And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln is credited with this aphorism, …
Frank Sinatra? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I greatly enjoy the singing of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, so I was surprised to hear that Sinatra once attacked the type of music that Elvis popularized. Supposedly Sinatra said: Rock n Roll is the most brutal, ugly, desperate, vicious form of expression it has been my …
Yogi Berra? George Lichty? Buddy Blattner? Joe Garagiola? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Famed baseball player Yogi Berra is credited with many hilarious remarks. Once Yogi was driving to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York with some other players. After passing the same landmark three times a fellow player named Joe …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: We’re Lost, But We’re Making Good Time!”