Jean-Paul Sartre? George Carlin? Slavoj Žižek? O. O. McIntyre? Sewell Ford? Billy Wilder? Leo Rosten? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Philosophers, linguists, and humorists enjoy the following joke about tacit knowledge: A person enters a café and requests coffee without cream. After a delay the waiter returns and says “I’m sorry. We’re out of cream. …
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Quote Origin: The Soul Is Healed By Being With Children
Fyodor Dostoevsky? Prince Myshkin? Constance Garnett? Henry Carlisle? Olga Carlisle? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A major literary figure once wrote about the connection between children and spiritual health. Here are two versions: (1) The soul is healed by being with children.(2) Through children the soul is healed. This remark has been attributed to the …
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Quote Origin: The Only Traditions of the Royal Navy Are Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash
Winston Churchill? Harold Nicolson? Paddy Leigh Fermor? Anthony Montague Browne? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: According to legend a British statesman was once criticized for disregarding naval tradition. The statesman responded with the following zinger: The only traditions of the Royal Navy are rum, sodomy, and the lash. This line has been attributed to Winston …
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Quip Origin: If God Had Intended That People Should Go Naked, We Would Have Been Born That Way
Walt Willis? Zorima? Raymond Duncan’s Wife? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The “appeal to nature” argument asserts that something which is natural is good, and something which is unnatural is bad. This style of reasoning has produced the following entertaining statements: (1) If God wanted us to wear clothes, we would have been born that …
Quote Origin: The Way That Person Believes In Themselves Is Quite Refreshing In These Atheistic Times When Many Believe In No God At All
Israel Zangwill? G. K. Chesterton? George Bernard Shaw? William Thomas Stead? H. G. Wells? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Intellectuals often think very highly of themselves. One wit satirized this self-absorption with the following quip: The way he believes in himself is very refreshing in these atheistic days when so many believe in no God …
Anecdote Origin: In the Wild Hill Countries from Whence My Client Comes They Talk of Little Else
Alexander Martin Sullivan? Marshall Hall? Henry Harte Barry? John Chute Neligan? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular anecdote in legal circles concerns a lawyer who was representing a client from a rural area. The judge condescendingly asked the lawyer whether the client was familiar with a legal doctrine which was identified via a pompous Latin …
Quote Origin: The Literary World Is Made Up of Second-Rate Writers Who Write About Other Second-Rate Writers
Mickey Spillane? Terry Southern? David Halberstam? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The best-selling author of pulp thrillers was excoriated by literary critics. His reported response was harsh: The literary world is made of second-rate writers writing about other second-rate writers. This statement has been credited to Mickey Spillane, but I am skeptical because I have …
Quote Origin: There Is No Such Thing as a New Idea. We Simply Take a Lot of Old Ideas and Put Them Into a Sort of Mental Kaleidoscope
Mark Twain? Albert Bigelow Paine? Caroline Thomas Harnsberger? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous author once suggested that humankind was not generating any genuinely new ideas. The author illustrated this viewpoint via a clever simile. Ideas were like pieces of colored glass in a kaleidoscope. The ideas which appeared to be new were only configurations …
Joke Origin: A Person Who Makes Puns Should Be Drawn and Quoted
Fred Allen? Charlie Rice? Red Skelton? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Puns are regularly lambasted, but the complaints are often comical as in the following slyly self-reflexive joke: A person who makes puns should be drawn and quoted. This statement has been attributed to comedian Fred Allen, newspaper columnist Charlie Rice, and entertainer Red Skelton. …
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Quote Origin: There Are Only Two Ways To Live Your Life. One Is As Though Nothing Is a Miracle. The Other Is As Though Everything Is a Miracle
Albert Einstein? Basil Wilberforce? Gilbert Fowler White? Robert E. Hinshaw? Question for Quote Investigator: Some skeptical individuals doubt the existence of anything miraculous or supernatural. Yet, some spiritual individuals believe that everything is miraculous. Here is a pertinent saying about this dichotomy: There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though …