Mark Twain? Robert Frost? Ambrose Bierce? Ben Bernanke? Philippe Girardet? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: It is remarkably difficult to obtain a loan in a difficult economic climate. This notion can be expressed with the following adage: A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: The Urge to Save Humanity is Almost Always Only a False-Face for the Urge to Rule It
H.L. Mencken? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following saying is credited to H.L. Mencken on several websites, and I found it in some quotation dictionaries. But I cannot find it directly in any works written by Mencken. Could you tell me if the attribution is correct? The urge to save humanity is almost always …
Dialogue Origin: “There is a Conspiracy of Silence Against Me. What Should I Do, Oscar?” “Join It”
Oscar Wilde? Augustine Birrell? Lewis Morris? Fictional? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a popular anecdote about Oscar Wilde that is very funny, but it is also implausible in my opinion. The story claims that Wilde was speaking with a terrible poet who had recently published a book of verse. The rhymer complained that no …
Quote Origin: Progress May Have Been All Right Once, But It Went On Too Long
Ogden Nash? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Jeopardy is my favorite game show, and I recently watched in amazement as an IBM computer named Watson beat the two best human players in the history of the trivia tournament. I was reminded of the classic one-line observation made by the brilliantly humorous poet Ogden Nash: Progress …
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Quote Origin: No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent
Eleanor Roosevelt? Reader’s Digest? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a remarkably insightful statement about self-esteem that is usually credited to Eleanor Roosevelt, the diplomat and former First Lady: No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. This is one of my favorite quotations, but I have not been able to …
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Quote Origin: Combining the Mount Wilson and Mount Palomar Telescopes Still Won’t Be Enough
George S. Kaufman? Eddie Fisher? Clifton Fadiman? Dick Cavett? Question for Quote Investigator: Many, many years ago I saw an old clip on TV of George S. Kaufman and he was replying to a question submitted by an audience member who was complaining. Kaufman was uninterested, and he replied with a lengthy comical remark. I …
Quote Origin: Every Tom, Dick, and Harry is Named Sam
Samuel Goldwyn? Roger Miller? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I noticed that the Wikiquote website lists one of my favorite funny sayings attributed to Samuel Goldwyn, the famous film producer. In the version of the story I heard, a friend told Goldwyn that he wanted to honor the studio head by naming his son after …
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Quote Origin: The Hardest Thing in the World to Understand Is Income Taxes
Albert Einstein? Leo Mattersdorf? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I have been struggling trying to figure out how much I owe to the Internal Revenue Service this year. The quote I would like you to explore does not sound very extraordinary. What makes it funny and outrageous is the identity of the person who supposedly …
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Quote Origin: Why Should Any Man Be Allowed to Buy a Printing Press and Disseminate Pernicious Opinions?
Vladimir Lenin? Winston Churchill? George Riddell? H. L. Mencken? Fictional? Question for Quote Investigator: I was thumbing through The Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations to try and find a good saying about freedom of the press and I was stunned to see this hostile sentence: As to freedom of the press, why should any man …
Quote Origin: Capitalism: The Nastiest of Men for the Nastiest of Motives Will Somehow Work for the Benefit of All
John Maynard Keynes? Austin Robinson? Fictional? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Many times I have seen the following quote attributed to John Maynard Keynes: Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone. I cannot find a solid citation. Also, …