Martin Luther King Jr.? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Civil rights champion Martin Luther King Jr. expressed unhappiness with people who were unwilling to support his efforts due to apathy or fear. He used the phrase “appalling silence”. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In 1958 Martin Luther King Jr. published …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
The Problem With Television Is That the People Must Sit and Keep Their Eyes Glued on a Screen; the Average American Family Hasn’t Time for It
The New York Times? Orrin E. Dunlap Jr.? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Wildly inaccurate predictions are always amusing. Apparently, an article in “The New York Times” contended that television broadcasting would never surpass radio broadcasting because people would never be willing to sit and stare at a screen for hours on end. Would you please …
If You Watch a Lot of TV, You’re Not Considered Well-Viewed
Lily Tomlin? Jane Wagner? Barbara Rowes? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: People who read numerous books are perceived positively by society. The term “well-read” implies knowledgeable and discerning. However, people who view television for endless hours are perceived negatively. The term “well-viewed” is uncommon. I have only heard it used within the punchline of a joke …
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Nothing Is Ugly as Long as It Is Alive
Coco Chanel? Marcel Haedrich? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Did the famous fashion designer and style arbiter Coco Chanel say that “nothing is ugly”? Would you please help me to find a citation showing the context? Quote Investigator: Coco Chanel died in 1971, and in that same year Marcel Haedrich authored a biography in French titled …
Patriotism is the Last Refuge of a Scoundrel
Samuel Johnson? James Boswell? Samuel Maunder? Henry F. Mason? Bernard J. Sheil? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A politician whose popularity is dropping may attempt to recapture acceptance by disingenuously embracing jingoistic patriotism. Here are three versions of a germane saying: Pretended patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels. Patriotism is the first refuge of a …
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I Don’t Think Necessity Is the Mother of Invention — Invention . . . Arises Directly From Idleness . . . From Laziness
Agatha Christie? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Necessity is the mother of invention according to the well-known proverb, but the brilliant mystery writer Agatha Christie disagreed. She suggested that the crucial motivation was laziness. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In 1976 Agatha Christie died, and the following year her autobiography …
“Only Six Months To Live. What Would You Do Then?” “Type Faster”
Isaac Asimov? Barbara Walters? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: An interviewer decided to challenge a popular and prolific author with the specter of mortality. What would the energetic scribbler do when given a prognosis of death within a year asked the interviewer. The preternaturally fixated author replied, “Type faster”. Would you please help me to identify …
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I Have Seen Dark Hours in My Life, and I Have Seen the Darkness Gradually Disappearing and the Light Gradually Increasing
Frederick Douglass? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous anti-slavery orator Frederick Douglass once stated that society was slowly improving. He believed that he was seeing “the darkness gradually disappearing and the light gradually increasing”. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: On October 22, 1890 “The Evening Star” newspaper of Washington …
This Is My Truth, Now Tell Me Yours
Aneurin Bevan? Jennie Lee? Michael Foot? Friedrich Nietzsche? Zarathustra? Manic Street Preachers? John Strachey? Hubert Griffith? Herbert L. Matthews? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A U.K politician expressed a willingness to hear alternative viewpoints by using the following expression: This is my truth; tell me yours. British Labour Party leader Aneurin Bevan has received credit for …
This Is My Way/Truth; Tell Me Your Way/Truth
Friedrich Nietzsche? Zarathustra? John Strachey? Hubert Griffith? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Different people hold divergent views of the world. Here are three versions of a germane remark: You have heard my truth; now tell me yours. This then is my truth. What is yours? This is my way; where is yours? The German philosopher Friedrich …
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