Charlie Chaplin? Steve Martin? Groucho Marx? Nicolas Chamfort? Dear Quote Investigator: The following guideline for living makes sense to me, so I try to find humor in something every day: A day without laughter is a day wasted When I read this maxim originally it was credited to Charlie Chaplin, but I once heard it …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
You Can’t Think and Hit at the Same Time
Yogi Berra? Bucky Harris? Eddie Froelich? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The New York Times magazine recently highlighted a quotation from a Hall of Fame baseball player:[1]2011 June 26, New York Times, For Derek Jeter, on His 37th Birthday by Michael Sokolove, Page MM28, Section: Sunday Magazine, New York. (Published online 2011 June 23; Accessed online …
Look Around the Poker Table; If You Can’t See the Sucker, You’re It
Warren Buffett? Michael Wolff? Amarillo Slim? Poker Proverb? Whispering Saul? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a quotation I have seen in several books and periodicals aimed at investors. Here is one version: If you have been in a poker game for a while, and you still don’t know who the patsy is, you’re the patsy. …
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Rock Journalism is People Who Can’t Write Interviewing People Who Can’t Talk for People Who Can’t Read
Frank Zappa? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The most outrageously funny quotation that I know of was spoken by the musician Frank Zappa: Rock journalism is people who can’t write interviewing people who can’t talk for people who can’t read. The perfect place to say this would have been during an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. …
If Your Actions Inspire Others To Dream More, Learn More, Do More and Become More, You Are a Leader
John Quincy Adams? Dolly Parton? Peyton Manning? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following quote about leadership appears on my son’s T-Shirt and all over the web, attributed to John Quincy Adams: If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. That can’t possibly be right, …
“Age Before Beauty.” “Pearls Before Swine.”
Dorothy Parker? Clare Boothe Luce? Sheilah Graham? Snooty debutante? Little chorus girl? Dear Quote Investigator: I think Dorothy Parker should be credited with the wittiest comeback ever spoken. She was attempting to go through a doorway at the same time as another person and words were exchanged. According to the story I heard the other …
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As I Wend My Way to Heaven I’ll Be Full of Cherry Pie
Edgar Guest? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: When I was a child I found a book at my public library, a collection of poetry. My favorite poem in it was entitled “Cherry Pie” and was (I thought) by Edgar Guest. Since those days I have tried to relocate the work but with no luck. I remember …
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The Play Was a Great Success, But the Audience Was a Total Failure
Oscar Wilde? William Collier? Daniel Frohman? George Bernard Shaw? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I have been involved in several theatrical productions and sometimes the response of an audience to a show is mystifying. A colleague told me that Oscar Wilde watched an early performance of Lady Windermere’s Fan, and the reception was unenthusiastic. Later when …
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Everything Should Be Made as Simple as Possible, But Not Simpler
Albert Einstein? Louis Zukofsky? Roger Sessions? William of Ockham? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The credibility of a quotation is increased substantially if it can be ascribed to a widely-recognized genius such as Albert Einstein. Hence a large number of spurious quotes are attributed to him. I would like to know if the following is a …
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I Did Not Attend the Funeral, But I Sent a Nice Letter Saying I Approved of It
Mark Twain? James Wayle? Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar? Walter Winchell? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: In the past few days several phony quotations were widely disseminated on the internet; in other words, they went viral. My question is about a saying that might be genuine. A CNN article contains the following expression attributed to Mark Twain: I …
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