Will Rogers? Ray Thompson? Walter Winchell? Milton Berle? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A talkative pet parrot can cause enormous embarrassment when it publicly recites phrases spoken in private. A comedian offered the following guidance: Live your life so you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell your family parrot to the town gossip. Popular entertainer Will …
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Quote Origin: No One in This World Has Ever Lost Money by Underestimating the Intelligence of the Great Masses of the Plain People
H. L. Mencken? Louis B. Mayer? Arthur L. Mayer? David Ogilvy? P. T. Barnum? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A sardonic comment about the general public has been credited to the famous journalist curmudgeon H. L. Mencken. Here are two versions: (1) No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. (2) …
Quote Origin: To Be Able To Fill Leisure Intelligently Is the Last Product of Civilization
Bertrand Russell? Arnold J. Toynbee? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: People who are attempting to climb the ladder of success today are often working more hours than ever before. Yet, the notable mathematician and intellectual Bertrand Russell envisioned a different future world in which the crucial challenge would be deciding how to fill leisure time …
Quote Origin: If I Had Known That These Legs Were One Day To Carry a Chancellor, I’d Have Taken Better Care of Them
Robert Henley? Lord Northampton? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Experiencing happiness and maintaining a positive outlook toward life is much easier to accomplish when one is enjoying good health. An English Lord once complained that he would have taken better care of his legs if he had known how long he was going to live. …
Quote Origin: There Are Only Four Stories: The Siege of the City, the Return Home, the Quest, and the Sacrifice of a God
Jorge Luis Borges? Paulo Coelho? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous Argentinian short-story writer Jorge Luis Borges apparently believed that there were only four archetypal tales. Would you please explore this topic and identify the four tales? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1972 Jorge Luis Borges published a collection titled “El Oro de los …
Quote Origin: I Have No Doubt You Have a Sufficiently Good Opinion of Yourself To Bear Mine With Equanimity
W. Somerset Maugham? John Colton? Clemence Randolph? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: As a high school student I came across a wonderful zinger spoken to a self-important individual. I cannot recall the exact wording, but it was something like this: I perceive, Sir, you have a sufficiently good opinion of yourself that you can bear …
Quote Origin: How Can Any Deny Themselves the Pleasure of My Company! It’s Beyond Me
Zora Neale Hurston? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Author Zora Neale Hurston was a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Her robust self-confidence provided resilience when facing prejudice. Apparently, she wrote or said the following: How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company! Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply …
Quote Origin: If I Had Known I Was Going To Live So Long, I’d Have Taken Better Care of Myself
Eubie Blake? Erma Bombeck? Mickey Mantle? Adolph Zukor? Billy Noonan? Robert Henley? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Looking back on one’s younger years it is natural to experience some regrets. The following comment has a humorous edge: If I’d known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself. …
Quote Origin: All Wars Are Planned by Older Men in Council Rooms Apart
Grantland Rice? Herman Melville? Herbert Hoover? Reverend E. W. Elstron? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A mournful anti-war poem contains this line: All wars are planned by older men in council rooms apart. The poem has been attributed to Grantland Rice who was a popular sports journalist. I have seen a version of the verse …
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Quote Origin: It Is the Greatest of All Mistakes, To Do Nothing Because You Can Only Do Little
Edmund Burke? Sydney Smith? Bob Geldof? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Trying to solve an enormous problem can be demoralizing. Each action can only achieve a small amount of progress. The following saying is designed to help maintain morale: Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a …