Tracing Quotations
Martin Luther King Jr.? Apocryphal? Question for 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? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1958 Martin Luther …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Appalling Silence of the Good People”
The New York Times? Orrin E. Dunlap Jr.? Apocryphal? Question for 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 …
Lily Tomlin? Jane Wagner? Barbara Rowes? Anonymous? Question for 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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: If You Watch a Lot of TV, You’re Not Considered Well-Viewed”
Coco Chanel? Marcel Haedrich? Apocryphal? Question for 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? Reply from Quote Investigator: Coco Chanel died in 1971, and in that same year Marcel Haedrich authored a biography …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Nothing Is Ugly as Long as It Is Alive”
Samuel Johnson? James Boswell? Samuel Maunder? Henry F. Mason? Bernard J. Sheil? Apocryphal? Question for 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: Would you please help me to identify an accurate version of this saying together …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Patriotism is the Last Refuge of a Scoundrel”
Agatha Christie? Apocryphal? Question for 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? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1976 Agatha Christie died, and the following …
Isaac Asimov? Barbara Walters? Apocryphal? Question for 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 …
Continue reading “Dialogue Origin: “Only Six Months To Live. What Would You Do Then?” “Type Faster””
Frederick Douglass? Apocryphal? Question for 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? Reply from Quote Investigator: On October 22, 1890 “The Evening Star” …
Aneurin Bevan? Jennie Lee? Michael Foot? Friedrich Nietzsche? Zarathustra? Manic Street Preachers? John Strachey? Hubert Griffith? Herbert L. Matthews? Apocryphal? Question for 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 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: This Is My Truth, Now Tell Me Yours”
Friedrich Nietzsche? Zarathustra? John Strachey? Hubert Griffith? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Different people hold divergent views of the world. Here are three versions of a germane remark: The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has received credit for this comment. Would you please explore this topic? Reply from Quote Investigator: Between 1883 and 1885 Friedrich Nietzsche …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: This Is My Way; Where Is Yours?”