Tracing Quotations
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?”
Frank Crane? Douglas MacArthur? Watterson Lowe? Ann Landers? Jay B. Nash? L. F. Phelan? Samuel Ullman? Question for Quote Investigator: According to a popular essay about youth the primary cause of aging is the desertion of one’s ideals. Also, years may wrinkle the skin, but losing enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. This essay has been attributed …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Years Wrinkle the Skin, But To Give Up Enthusiasm Wrinkles the Soul”
Oscar Wilde? G. K. Chesterson? Richard G. Moulton? Coulson Kernahan? William Thomas Stead? Richard Le Gallienne? C. Ranger Gull? Leonard Cresswell Ingleby? Guy Thorne? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The contemplation of a seemingly self-contradictory statement can help to illuminate a larger truth. This notion may be expressed with figurative language: Paradox is merely truth …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Paradox Is Truth Standing On Its Head To Attract Attention”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Thomas Mann? André Gide? Arthur Koestler? Garrett Hardin? Horace Mann? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Sometimes a truthful statement can undermine a cherished belief and provide comfort to an adversary. Thus, it is tempting to embrace an untruthful statement that provides temporary solace. Yet, accepting uncomfortable truths leads to personal growth, …