Tracing Quotations
Frank Herbert? Ray Bradbury? Theodore Sturgeon? Fred Pohl? Question for Quote Investigator: I once read an interview with a science fiction writer in which he was asked about predicting the future. The interviewer was disappointed that some of the technological developments heralded in science fiction never seemed to actually happen. The response from the author …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Do Not Want to Predict the Future. I Want to Prevent It”
Jimmy Durante? Wilson Mizner? Walter Winchell? George Raft? Question for Quote Investigator: Sometimes clichés become clichés because they express important truths. I think this is an example: Be nice to those you meet on the way up because you will meet them on the way down Can you determine who first came up with this …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Be Nice to People on Your Way Up. You’ll Meet Them On Your Way Down”
Gore Vidal? Lewis H. Lapham? Fictional? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: When I watch reality television shows today I can only conclude that some people will do anything to be on television. This fits the advice the famous author Gore Vidal apparently gave: Never turn down an opportunity to have sex or to be on television …
Continue reading “Never Miss a Chance to Have Sex or Appear On Television”
Mark Twain? Fred N. Rindge? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I am interested in a fantastic quotation that I always thought was from the pen of Mark Twain: When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: When I Was a Boy of Fourteen, My Father Was So Ignorant”
Tony Curtis? Fictional? Dear Quote Investigator: Tony Curtis was a wonderful actor, and I was saddened when he passed away in 2010. For years I have wondered about a quotation that he supposedly said. The story goes that he was asked what it was like to kiss Marilyn Monroe and he said: Kissing Marilyn was …
Continue reading “Kissing Marilyn Monroe is Like Kissing Hitler”
Groucho Marx? Walter Winchell? George S. Kaufman? George Jean Nathan? Dear Quote Investigator: When a friend asked me my opinion of a terrible play that I saw recently I answered: I did not like it, but perhaps this judgment is unfair. I saw it under adverse conditions — the curtain was up. Eventually she coaxed …
Continue reading “Theatrical Review: I Saw It Under Adverse Conditions. The Curtain Was Up”
Mark Twain? Grant Allen? Dear Quote Investigator: I am still in school and that is probably why the following quote attributed to Mark Twain appeals to me so much: I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. Your blog posts about Twain quotations reveal that the information on the internet about what he …
Continue reading “Never Let Schooling Interfere With Your Education”
Evan Esar? Jan Harold Brunvand? Bennett Cerf? Dear Quote Investigator: I was speaking with a friend about all the misinformation and misattributions in the world of quotations, and he said that he was familiar with this phenomenon of unreliability because he enjoys reading about urban-legends. He also gave his own quotation on this theme which …
Wilson Mizner? Steven Wright? Wallace Notestein? Ralph Foss? Joseph Cummings Chase? Asa George Baker? Leslie Henson? Tom Lehrer? Bob Oliver? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Some of the websites I come across seem to produce their content by using cut and paste. They do not even bother to collect information from multiple sources. I am reminded …
Dorothy Parker? Punch Humor Magazine? Sally’s Sallies Comic Strip? Ann Landers? Dear Quote Investigator: Previously you discussed a quote of Dorothy Parker’s which was self-critical, but she also directed her barbs at others. Here is an example [LWO]: When a garrulous old battle-ax was praised as “outspoken,” Mrs. Parker raised an eyebrow to take dead …
Continue reading ““Our host certainly is outspoken.” “Outspoken by whom?””