John Ruskin? J. A. Richards? The Pure Food Store? White Star Company? Percy D. Hagan? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: It is always possible to manufacture an item using inferior materials and sell it at a cheaper price than a quality item. The buyer who is foolishly guided by price alone becomes the lawful prey of …
Category Archives: John Ruskin
All Comedy Is Tragedy, If You Only Look Deep Enough Into It
Thomas Hardy? John Ruskin? William Stearns Davis? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Comedy and tragedy are sometimes intertwined. The prominent English novelist Thomas Hardy has received credit for the following remark: Comedy is tragedy, if you only look deep enough. This statement has also been ascribed to the influential English art critic John Ruskin. Would you …
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A Man Wrapped Up in Himself Makes a Very Small Bundle
Benjamin Franklin? John Ruskin? Harry Emerson Fosdick? Mae A. Byrnes? Dan Crawford? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: An individual who is self-absorbed typically experiences a diminished life and does not achieve great renown. Here are four versions of a figurative saying on this theme: A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle. A …
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Most People Would Die Sooner Than Think—In Fact, They Do So
Bertrand Russell? Sheldon? John Ruskin? Woods Hutchinson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Cantankerous individuals who believe they are surrounded by an ignorant and unthinking public sometimes proclaim: People would rather die than think. This statement has been enhanced with a funny addition that reinvigorates the cliché. Here are two versions: Many people would sooner die than …
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“The Labour of Two Days, Is That for Which You Ask Two Hundred Guineas!” “No; I Ask It for the Knowledge of a Lifetime.”
James McNeill Whistler? Pablo Picasso? John Ruskin? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: According to legend a famous painter once created a work of art in a very rapid and seemingly slipshod fashion. Yet the price assigned to the piece was exorbitant. The artist was asked why the price of the painting was so large when the …