Tracing Quotations
John Maynard Keynes? Paul Samuelson? Winston Churchill? Joan Robinson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: John Maynard Keynes was an enormously influential economist, but some of his detractors complained that the opinions he expressed tended to change over the years. Once during a high-profile government hearing a critic accused him of being inconsistent, and Keynes reportedly …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: When the Facts Change, I Change My Mind. What Do You Do, Sir?”
Mark Twain? Ben Wade? Emery A. Storrs? James Matthew Barrie? Robert Burton? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a well-known quotation about heaven and hell that is usually credited to Mark Twain. I have found it phrased in different ways: My friend is adamant that the quotation was really created by James M. Barrie, the …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Heaven for the Climate, and Hell for the Company”
Charlie Chaplin? Steve Martin? Groucho Marx? Nicolas Chamfort? Question for 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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: A Day Without Laughter Is a Day Wasted”
Yogi Berra? Bucky Harris? Eddie Froelich? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The New York Times magazine recently highlighted a quotation from a Hall of Fame baseball player: “How can you think and hit at the same time?” Yogi Berra once said, which like many of the quotes attributed to the former Yankees catcher, even the …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: You Can’t Think and Hit at the Same Time”
Warren Buffett? Michael Wolff? Amarillo Slim? Poker Proverb? Whispering Saul? Question for 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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Look Around the Poker Table; If You Can’t See the Sucker, You’re It”
Frank Zappa? Apocryphal? Question for 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 …
John Quincy Adams? Dolly Parton? Peyton Manning? Anonymous? Question for 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 …
Dorothy Parker? Clare Boothe Luce? Sheilah Graham? Snooty debutante? Little chorus girl? Question for 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 …
Continue reading “Dialogue Origin: “Age Before Beauty” “Pearls Before Swine””
Edgar Guest? Anonymous? Question for 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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: As I Wend My Way to Heaven I’ll Be Full of Cherry Pie”
Oscar Wilde? William Collier? Daniel Frohman? George Bernard Shaw? Anonymous? Question for 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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Play Was a Great Success, But the Audience Was a Total Failure”