George Carlin? Jeremy Clarkson? Carol Mueller? Larry Tobin? Bill Hall? Cheryl Saban? Ben Rubin? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Electronic devices beep when reporting notifications. Trucks beep when they are backing up. Microwave ovens beep when food is ready. A wit commented on our modern soundscape. Here are three versions: (1) Everything beeps now.(2) Now …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Phrase Origin: A Solution in Search of a Problem
Author: Jerrold R. Zacharias? Abigail Johnson? S. Paul Johnson? Theodore Maiman? Anonymous? Technology: Laser? Nuclear Energy? Electronic Computer? Meteorological Satellite? Artificial Intelligence? Bitcoin? Blockchain? Question for Quote Investigator: When the first laser was built it received high praise, but the applications of the invention were unclear. A clever phrase described the situation. Here are two …
Continue reading “Phrase Origin: A Solution in Search of a Problem”
Dialogue Origin: “I Got Me a Dream” “Eat Your Eggs”
Lorraine Hansberry? Stephen King? Helene Keyssar? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I am trying to find the source of the following dialogue. The setting was a breakfast table. One person enthusiastically described a grand plan and said, “I have a dream” or “I want to fly”. The other person attenuated the emotional intensity by simply …
Continue reading “Dialogue Origin: “I Got Me a Dream” “Eat Your Eggs””
Quote Origin: Life Is Full of Trials With an Occasional Conviction
Thomas Robert Dewar? Grafton Grabb? A Ragged Tramp? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Everyone faces trials, i.e., adversity. A humorous remark uses wordplay to tie together these hardships with the legal system: Life is full of trials with an occasional conviction. This quip has been attributed to Scottish whisky distiller Thomas Robert Dewar, but I …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Life Is Full of Trials With an Occasional Conviction”
Quote Origin: When I Want Your Opinion, I’ll Give It To You
Samuel Goldwyn? Bill Keisler? Bobby Wayne? Vladimir Semyonov? Sam Levenson? Laurence J. Peter? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following astringent remark perfectly embodies the attitude of a high-handed boss who ignores feedback: When I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you. This line has been ascribed to movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn. The statement …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: When I Want Your Opinion, I’ll Give It To You”
Quote Origin: I May Not Always Be Right, But I Am Never Wrong
Samuel Goldwyn? Mrs. Jones? Cy Rigler? Margaret Grant? George Bernard Shaw? Harry Rapf? William Brown Meloney? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Samuel Goldwyn was a powerful Hollywood movie mogul who was famous for humorous gaffes. His malapropisms and paradoxes became known as Goldwynisms. For example, while discussing the accuracy of his predictions Goldwyn reportedly said: …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I May Not Always Be Right, But I Am Never Wrong”
Quip Origin: Dogs Believe You Are a God. Cats Believe They Are Gods
Christopher Hitchens? Brian Crane? Susie Blair? Brian K. Lebowitz? P. G. Wodehouse? Pickles? Muffin the Cat? Roscoe the Dog? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The attitudes of dogs and cats differ substantially according to a popular humorous analysis. A dog which receives food, water, care, and affection concludes: “My benefactor is a god”. A cat …
Continue reading “Quip Origin: Dogs Believe You Are a God. Cats Believe They Are Gods”
Joke Origin: The Unjust Steals the Just’s Umbrella
Samuel Butler? Eliza Mary Ann Savage? Ogden Nash? Mandell Creighton? Charles Bowen? George Ferguson Bowen? William Burns? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A well-known bible verse, Matthew 5:45, discusses God and the weather: Your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good and the evil, and raineth upon the …
Continue reading “Joke Origin: The Unjust Steals the Just’s Umbrella”
Proverb Origin: Don’t Believe Everything You Think
Tom Sims? Edgar Allan Poe? Mary Margaret McBride? Sidney K. Bennett? Clayton Rawson? George Stracke? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A commonplace warning states that you should not believe everything you hear. But the following extreme version of this caution embodies even greater skepticism: Don’t believe everything you think. I once saw this statement on …
Continue reading “Proverb Origin: Don’t Believe Everything You Think”
Quote Origin: The Labyrinthine Man Never Seeks the Truth but Always and Only His Ariadne
Friedrich Nietzsche? Claudia Crawford? Walter Kaufmann? Karl Jaspers? Roland Barthes? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: In Greek mythology, the Cretan princess Ariadne helped the hero Theseus slay the Minotaur and escape from the labyrinth. Ariadne gave Daedalus a ball of thread so he could successfully navigate through the deadly maze. While contemplating this myth, the …