Tracing Quotations
Dorothy L. Sayers? George Eliot? Thomas Fuller? George Herbert? George Latimer Apperson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The ongoing pandemic reminded me of an eccentric proverb I once heard: Love and a cough cannot be hidden. The prominent mystery wrote Dorothy L. Sayers once referred to a statement like this. Would you please explore the …
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A. A. Milne? Lord Peter Wimsey? Dorothy L. Sayers? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A. A. Milne is famous for authoring children’s books that bring to life anthropomorphic characters such as Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet. Milne also composed essays aimed at adults, and he once criticized thinkers who recited quotations instead of …
Dorothy L. Sayers? Lord Peter Wimsey? Harriet Vane? Philip Broadley? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I have found the perfect sardonic motto for the QI website: A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought. According to the “Encarta Book of Quotations” these words were spoken by the character Lord Peter Wimsey in the …
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Dorothy L. Sayers? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Gossip mongers are obsessed with identifying and publicizing the latest carnal pairings of celebrities. The acclaimed mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers composed a short poem expressing disinterest in this subject, and I have seen two distinct versions of her humorous four lines. Would you please help me …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: As Years Come In and Years Go Out, I Totter Toward the Tomb”
Creator: Dorothy L. Sayers, prominent English mystery writer, playwright, and poet Context: Sayers published the crime novel “Have His Carcase” in 1932. The quotation was spoken by Lord Peter Wimsey while he was conversing with Harriet Vane. Emphasis added to excerpts: “There’s something in that. But I’ll have to get a decent frock if there …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Always Have a Quotation for Everything—It Saves Original Thinking”