Mickey Spillane? Hy Gardner? Frank Smikel? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Popular writers endure a litany of complaints directed at their prose, e.g., mediocre, clumsy, crude, uninteresting, and undemanding. A bestselling writer once employed a clever analogy to explain this antagonism. The writer contended that literary darlings were trying to market caviar, whereas popular writers …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: The Past Is History. The Future Is a Mystery. Today Is a Gift. That’s Why It’s Called the Present
Eleanor Roosevelt? Barbara De Angelis? Joan Rivers? Bill Keane? Emily Dickinson? Liz Curtis Higgs? Babatunde Olatunji? Susan Barkdoll? Nicholas L. Santowassa? Abigail Van Buren? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A rhyming series of statements highlight the uncertainty of the future and the desirability of appreciating the present. Here are two versions: (1) The past is …
Quote Origin: I Told the Doctor I Was Overtired, . . . Constantly Depressed With Recurring Fits of Paranoia. Turns Out I’m Normal
Jules Feiffer? Leonard Roy Frank? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Many years ago I encountered a comic strip presenting a humorous commentary about the modern condition. In a series of panels a person complained to a doctor about feeling overtired, anxious, depressed, and paranoid. The doctor simply replied that the person was perfectly normal. I …
Quote Origin: The Greatest Mistake You Can Make In Life Is To Be Continually Fearing You Will Make One
Elbert Hubbard? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Anxiety about making a mistake can cause inaction and paralysis. Moving forward inevitably leads to some errors and imperfections. Yet it is necessary to make choices, take action, and fix the accompanying mistakes. Here is a pertinent adage: The greatest mistake is continually fearing you will make one. …
Quote Origin: The Essence of True Horror — the Clown, at Midnight
Robert Bloch? Lon Chaney? Stephen King? Ray Bradbury? Carlos Clarens? Eleanor Ringel? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A clown is usually a figure of humor or pathos, but a clown can also be frightening. If one appeared on your doorstep late at night it would be deeply unsettling. The following saying has been attributed to …
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Quote Origin: Habit Is Habit, and Not To Be Flung Out of the Window By Any Man, But Coaxed Down Stairs a Step at a Time
Mark Twain? Mabel Thatcher Wellman? Ellen H. Richards? John Harvey Kellogg? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Longstanding habits are difficult to break. This notion has been expressed metaphorically as follows: A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time. This statement has been attributed …
Headline Origin: Sticks Nix Hick Pix
Variety? Abel Green? Lin Bonner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous headline appeared in the U.S. show business periodical “Variety” in 1935: STICKS NIX HICK PIX STICKS referred to rural audiences. NIX meant reject. HICK referred to a rural theme. PIX meant a motion picture. Thus, the headline was stating that rural audiences were …
Quote Origin: Anger Is an Acid That Can Do More Harm To the Vessel In Which It’s Stored Than To Anything On Which It’s Poured
Mark Twain? Ann Landers? Turkish Proverb? Mohandas Gandhi? Seneca the Younger? Frederica Mathewes-Green? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Intense feelings of anger affect the body and mind negatively. This notion can be expressed metaphorically: Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on …
Quote Origin: There’s No Point in Having Sharp Images If You’ve Got Fuzzy Ideas
Jean-Luc Godard? Ansel Adams? Richard Roud? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: When you create a photograph or film your intentions should be well defined. Here are three pertinent statements which may be grouped together: (1) There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept. (2) There’s no point in having a sharp …
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Quote Origin: I Have Been Misquoted Everywhere, and the Inaccuracies Are Chasing Me Round the World
George Bernard Shaw? Ritchie Calder? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Prominent Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw is a misquotation magnet. Numerous remarks have been ascribed to him that he never said. Apparently, he once grumbled about being “misquoted everywhere”. He believed that the inaccuracies were chasing him around the world. Would you please help me …