Tracing Quotations
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”
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 …
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 …
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: …
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” …
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”
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 …
Mark Twain? Richard Branson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following comical remark reassures neophyte speakers that their anxious feelings are universal: There are only two types of speakers: (1) the nervous (2) the liars. This quip is usually attributed to the famous humorist Mark Twain, but I cannot find a solid citation, and I …
Will Rogers? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Some golfers are not particularly conscientious when counting the number of strokes required to complete a course. A humorist once pointed to another activity that challenges scruples: The income tax has made liars out of more people than golf. Do you know the precise phrasing of this quip …
Will Rogers? Ray Thompson? Walter Winchell? Milton Berle? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A talkative pet parrot can cause enormous embarrassment when it publicly recites phrases spoken in private. A comedian offered the following guidance: Live your life so you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell your family parrot to the town gossip. Popular entertainer Will …