Mark Twain? Jack Benny? Satchel Paige? Muhammad Ali? Unknown gerontology researcher? Question for Quote Investigator: On a popular website recently I saw a slide show of quotations ascribed to Mark Twain that included the following: Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. I thought this was said …
Category Archives: Mark Twain
Quote Origin: The Man Who Does Not Read Has No Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read
Mark Twain? Joseph D. Eggleston Jr.? Inland Steel Company? Quin Ryan? Abigail Van Buren? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Mark Twain is credited with a marvelous saying about the importance of reading: A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read. I was unable to determine when this saying was created, …
Dialogue Origin: “It Took Me Fifteen Years to Discover That I Had No Talent for Writing.” “Did You Quit?”
Robert Benchley? Mark Twain? Walter Winchell? Groucho Marx? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: One of the funniest quotations about writing is usually credited to the brilliant wit Robert Benchley: It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was …
Quote Origin: It’s Easy to Quit Smoking. I’ve Done It a Thousand Times
Mark Twain? W. C. Fields? Harris Dickson? Barracuda Pete? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I mentioned a joke credited to Mark Twain to a friend recently: It’s easy to quit smoking. I’ve done it hundreds of times. She said that the jest was actually created by the famous comedian W. C. Fields and not Twain. …
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Advice Origin: Substitute ‘Damn’ Every Time You’re Inclined to Write ‘Very’
Mark Twain? William Allen White? Franklin P. Adams? Brock Pemberton? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I’ve been quoting an editor-friend’s advice for years, and suddenly tonight I see it online attributed to Mark Twain: Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as …
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Quote Origin: The Professor’s Lecture Notes Go Straight to the Students’ Lecture Notes
Mark Twain? Edwin E. Slosson? Harry Lloyd Miller? Professor Rathburn? Mortimer J. Adler? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Mark Twain is credited with a very funny description of college lectures. For some teachers and students I think this quotation is accurate: College is a place where a professor’s lecture notes go straight to the students’ …
Quote Origin: The Climate Is What You Expect; The Weather Is What You Get
Mark Twain? Robert Heinlein? A Schoolchild? Caroline B. Le Row? Andrew John Herbertson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I am preparing a book about the weather and climate, and I would like to include the following quotation: The climate is what you expect; the weather is what you get. Several web sites attribute this remark …
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Quote Origin: Whenever I Feel the Urge to Exercise I Lie Down Until It Goes Away
Jimmy Durante? Edna Mae Oliver? Robert M. Hutchins? Chauncey Depew? Mark Twain? Paul Terry? Robert Benchley? Max Beerbohm? J. P. McEvoy? Question for Quote Investigator: The funniest quotation about exercise is usually credited to Mark Twain: Whenever I get the urge to exercise, I lie down until the feeling passes away. But this statement is …
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Quote Origin: Clothes Make the Man. Naked People Have Little or No Influence in Society
Mark Twain? Merle Johnson? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Comments about stylish clothing always remind me of Mark Twain’s comment: Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society. But I cannot seem to find any direct reference for this quote. The best citation I have seen was dated more than fifteen …
Quote Origin: When the End of the World Comes, I Want To Be in Cincinnati. It Is Always Ten Years Behind the Times
Mark Twain? Heinrich Heine? Otto von Bismarck? George Bernard Shaw? James Boswell? Will Rogers? Question for Quote Investigator: As a one-time resident of Cincinnati I knew that Mark Twain once worked in the city, and I always enjoyed the comment he reportedly made about it: When the end of the world comes, I want to …