Daniel Webster? Herbert Hoover? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Extraordinary care should be taken whenever one plans to etch a quotation into a granite monument. That is why I am asking you about the accuracy of the following patriotic statement attributed to U.S. statesman and orator Daniel Webster: May the sun in his course visit …
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Quote Origin: Everything I’ve Ever Said Will Be Credited To Dorothy Parker
George S. Kaufman? Scott Meredith? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Bright remarks are often misattributed to famously witty individuals such as Dorothy Parker. An exasperated fellow humorist once said: Everything I’ve ever said will be credited to Dorothy Parker. Would you please help me to locate a citation and tell me who said this? Reply …
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Quote Origin: Rhyme Does Not Pay
Dorothy Parker? Oscar Wilde? Mike Porter? Arch Ward? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Composing poetry is rarely a lucrative occupation. A traditional moralistic adage has been transformed into a comical warning for versifiers: This word play has been credited to the prominent wit Dorothy Parker who published multiple collections of poetry. Would you please explore …
Quote Origin: A Writer Is One To Whom Writing Comes Harder Than To Anybody Else
Thomas Mann? H. T. Lowe-Porter? Franz Leppmann? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Writing is an agonizing process requiring multiple drafts for some of its most skilled practitioners. Here are three versions of a pertinent quip: (1) The writer is a person who has a hard time writing. (2) A writer is a one who finds …
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Quote Origin: There Is a Plague on Man: His Opinion That He Knows Something
Michel de Montaigne? Charles Cotton? M. A. Screech? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Overconfidence is one of the great faults of humankind. Gaining mastery of a topic is often quite difficult. Here is a pertinent remark: There is a plague on Man: his opinion that he knows something. The prominent French philosopher Michel de Montaigne …
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Quote Origin: Truth Is the First Casualty in War
Aeschylus? Philip Snowden? Ethel Annakin? Samuel Johnson? Anne MacVicar Grant? E. D. Morel? W. T. Foster? Agnes Maude Royden? Hiram Johnson? Arthur Ponsonby? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The participants in a violent conflict often engage in crude propaganda and advocacy. Here are four versions of a pertinent saying: This adage has been credited to …
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Quote Origin: Tell Me What Company You Keep, and I Will Tell You What You Are
Miguel de Cervantes? Don Quixote? Sancho Panza? Euripides? Lord Chesterfield? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Joseph Hordern? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: If you are attempting to assess the character of an individual you can do it indirectly by identifying his or her friends and assessing their proclivities. Here are three versions of a pertinent saying: …
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Quote Origin: He Can Compress the Most Words In the Fewest Ideas of Anyone I Ever Knew
Abraham Lincoln? Henry Clay Whitney? Elliott Anthony? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A verbose speaker employing overblown rhetoric reportedly inspired a humorous observation from U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Here are two versions: Is there any substantive evidence that Lincoln actually made this quip? Reply from Quote Investigator: There are two distinct anecdotes supporting the attribution …
Quote Origin: Sorrow Is the Mere Rust of the Soul. Activity Will Cleanse and Brighten It
Samuel Johnson? Frances Burney? Hester Lynch Piozzi? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The superlative English lexicographer Samuel Johnson once defined sorrow as the rust of the soul which could be scoured away by engaging with life and becoming active. Would you please help me to find a citation. Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1750 Samuel …
Quote Origin: People Are Entitled To Their Own Opinions But Not To Their Own Facts
Bernard Baruch? Daniel Patrick Moynihan? Rayburn H. Carrell? James R. Schlesinger? Alan Greenspan? Question for Quote Investigator: A family of popular sayings highlights the difference between opinions and facts. Here are three thematically related expressions: (1) Everybody has a right to their opinion, but nobody has a right to be wrong in their facts. (2) …