Mignon McLaughlin? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Feeling discouraged is a natural reaction to the state of the world sometimes. Currently, there is a pandemic curtailing social and economic activity almost everywhere. Yet, these pessimistic feelings will not last forever. My favorite witty person, Mignon McLaughlin, once presented a clever definition of “hope” that is …
Author Archives: quoteresearch
Quote Origin: A Bottle of Wine Contains More Philosophy Than All the Books in the World
Louis Pasteur? René Vallery-Radot? Jacques Orhon? Malcolm Kushner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous French scientist Louis Pasteur has received credit for the following remark: A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world. I have been unable to find a good citation. Would you please help? Reply from …
Quote Origin: Few Souls Are Saved After the First Twenty Minutes of a Sermon
Mark Twain? John Wesley? John M. Bartholomew? Arthur Twining Hadley? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Lengthy orations on spiritual topics are unlikely to change the views of resistant audience members. Here are three versions of a pertinent adage: This saying has been credited to humorist Mark Twain and 18th-century English evangelist John Wesley. Would you …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Few Souls Are Saved After the First Twenty Minutes of a Sermon”
Quote Origin: My Candle Burns at Both Ends; It Will Not Last the Night
Edna St. Vincent Millay? James Howell? Thomas Shadwell? Samuel Hoffenstein? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A candle burning at both ends provides magnificent radiance for a short time. The poet Edna St. Vincent Millay constructed a brilliant metaphorical verse based on this observation. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: My Candle Burns at Both Ends; It Will Not Last the Night”
Quote Origin: God Forbid That Any Book Should Be Banned. The Practice Is As Indefensible As Infanticide
Rebecca West? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The prominent British author and literary critic Rebecca West once compared book banning to infanticide. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1928 Rebecca West published a collection of essays and reviews titled “The Strange Necessity” which included a piece titled …
Quote Origin: We Must Play What Is Dealt To Us, and the Glory Consists Not So Much In Winning As In Playing a Poor Hand Well
Jack London? Robert Louis Stevenson? Josh Billings? Henry Wheeler Shaw? H. T. Leslie? Edgar O. Achorn? Albert J. Beveridge? Frank Crane? Dale Carnegie? Question for Quote Investigator: Life is particularly challenging if you are born with medical impairments or negligent parents. Metaphorically, while playing cards you may be dealt a poor hand. You are triumphant …
Quote Origin: I Predict the Internet Will Soon Go Spectacularly Supernova and in 1996 Catastrophically Collapse
Robert Metcalfe? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I recently read a collection of quotations highlighting wildly inaccurate technology predictions. One faulty forecast was made by Bob Metcalfe, co-inventor of Ethernet. He contended that the internet was going to collapse in the 1990s. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: …
Quote Origin: Any Authentic Work of Art Must Start an Argument Between the Artist and His Audience
Rebecca West? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: True artists are often troublemakers. They challenge their audience and cause argumentation. The prominent British author and literary critic Rebecca West said something similar to this. Would you please help me to find a citation? Reply from Quote Investigator: Rebecca West’s 1957 book “The Court and the Castle” …
Quote Origin: I Never Seek To Take the Credit; We All Assume That Oscar Said It
Dorothy Parker? Louella Parsons? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The 19th-century Irish playwright Oscar Wilde is a superstar in the realm of quotations, and many scintillating expressions have been incorrectly attributed to him. A humorous verse about this phenomenon was composed by another wit, Dorothy Parker. The verse ends with this line: We all assume …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Never Seek To Take the Credit; We All Assume That Oscar Said It”
Quote Origin: There Are Three Main Plots for the Human Interest Story: Boy-Meets-Girl, The Little Tailor, and The Man-Who-Learned-Better
Robert Heinlein? L. Ron Hubbard? Catherine Crook de Camp? L. Sprague de Camp? Brian W. Aldiss? John Brunner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous science fiction author Robert Heinlein apparently contended that there were only three basic templates for stories. One template was “The Brave Little Tailor”, a German fairy tale about a clever …