Nigel Rees? Stephen Fry? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: This website contains numerous examples of quotations that have been reassigned from anonymous or forgotten individuals to famous figures. The general phenomenon has been designated “Churchillian Drift” because of the large number of sayings that have been incorrectly attributed to Winston Churchill. Would you please explore …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
You Killed My Brother. We Must Have a Duel
Donald M. Richardson? Olwyn Orde Browne? T. K. Steele? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: When I was a child I heard a circular story, i.e., a story that was designed to be repeated. The details are hazy, but I know there was a duel and a character named Zanzibar. Would you please help me to recover …
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Tell Us One of Your Famous Stories: ‘Twas a Dark and Fearsome Night
Antonio? Canfield and Carlton? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Experimental fiction and metafiction became influential in literary circles during the 1960s and 1970s. Yet, I recall a playful story from the beginning of the twentieth century that used recursion. A character named Antonio presented a comically nested tale to a group of brigands. Would you please …
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The Purpose of the Writer Is To Keep Civilization from Destroying Itself
Bernard Malamud? Albert Camus? Harris Wofford? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Having a grand mission to achieve with your life helps to generate a powerful motivational force. Apparently, one scribe asserted that: The purpose of the writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself. This remark has been credited to the famous existential philosopher Albert Camus …
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(The Task of My Generation) Consists in Preventing the World from Destroying Itself
Albert Camus? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Nuclear and biological warfare present ongoing existential risks for mankind. Environmental degradation presents another set of risks. The crucial task for this generation is to prevent the world from destroying itself. Apparently, the French existentialist philosopher Albert Camus highlighted this task of self-preservation back in the 1950s. Would you …
The Best Way To Lift One’s Self Up Is To Help Some One Else
Booker T. Washington? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: If you desire to improve your condition in life or lift yourself up then you should help someone else to achieve a better life. The famous educator and orator Booker T. Washington made this point eloquently. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In …
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When I Hear Artists or Authors Making Fun of Business Men I Think of a Regiment in Which the Band Makes Fun of the Cooks
H. L. Mencken? Robert E. Adams? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Acerbic commentator H. L. Mencken has received credit for a figurative remark that mentions military bands and military cooks. Yet, I have been unable to find a solid citation. Would you please examine this topic? Quote Investigator: In 1942 H. L. Mencken published a …
We Attend the Openings of Envelopes
Andy Warhol? Sylvia Miles? Wayland Flowers? Jack O’Brian? Rex Reed? Olivia Goldsmith? Ivana Trump? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The opening of an exciting theatrical production or an innovative art museum can be a prestigious event with an impressive guest list. Yet, many openings are weary exercises in public relations with unremarkable attendees. A self-promoter who …
I Am a Lie That Always Tells the Truth
Jean Cocteau? Pablo Picasso? Â Herbert V. Prochnow? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The life mission of an artist is paradoxical. Masterpieces are not subservient to narrow facticity. Representing truths and insights requires the imaginative transformation of raw materials. Here are two versions of an energizing maxim for artists: I am a lie that always speaks the …
A Facility for Quotation Covers the Absence of Original Thought
Dorothy L. Sayers? Lord Peter Wimsey? Harriet Vane? Philip Broadley? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: I have found the perfect sardonic motto for the QI website: A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought. According to the “Encarta Book of Quotations”[1] 2000, Encarta Book of Quotations, Edited by Bill Swainson, Entry: Dorothy L. Sayers, …
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