Tracing Quotations
George Bernard Shaw? Winston Churchill? Groucho Marx? Max Aitken? Mark Twain? W. C. Fields? Bertrand Russell? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a famous story about sex and money that I have heard in myriad variations. A man asks a woman if she would be willing to sleep with him if he pays her an …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Now We’re Just Haggling Over the Price”
Mark Twain? Chauncey Depew? Ring Lardner? William Allen White? Winston Churchill? Big Jim Watson? Joseph Hodges Choate? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: New Year’s resolutions often feature plans for more exercise. Mark Twain was once asked if he engaged in exercise, and he supposedly said: I take my only exercise acting as a pallbearer at …
Locale: San Francisco, California? Paris, France? Duluth, Minnesota? Milwaukee, Wisconsin? Originator: Mark Twain? Horace Walpole? James Quin? R. Q. Grant? Lord Byron? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Living in Menlo Park near San Francisco I have heard the following witticism credited to Mark Twain many times: The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Coldest Winter I Ever Spent Was a Summer in San Francisco”
Mark Twain? H. Jackson Brown? Sarah Frances Brown? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The Virgin Galactic company of Richard Branson plans to offer suborbital spaceflights for tourists. The organization put together a beautiful brochure containing the following quotation credited to Mark Twain: Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you …
Mark Twain? Ben Wade? Emery A. Storrs? James Matthew Barrie? Robert Burton? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a well-known quotation about heaven and hell that is usually credited to Mark Twain. I have found it phrased in different ways: My friend is adamant that the quotation was really created by James M. Barrie, the …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Heaven for the Climate, and Hell for the Company”
Mark Twain? James Wayle? Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar? Walter Winchell? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: In the past few days several phony quotations were widely disseminated on the internet; in other words, they went viral. My question is about a saying that might be genuine. A CNN article contains the following expression attributed to Mark Twain: I …
Mark Twain? Clarence Darrow? Overland Monthly? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I saw the quotation below when it was tweeted a few days ago. It was credited to Mark Twain, but apparently he never said it: I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure. Later I read news …
Mark Twain? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I have heard the following quote attributed to Mark Twain: A man who doesn’t smoke is like a sinking ship with no rats to desert it. I am skeptical. Would you please explore the provenance of this expression? Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has been unable to locate …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: She Was a Sinking Vessel with No Freight to Throw Overboard”
Mark Twain? Robert Frost? Ambrose Bierce? Ben Bernanke? Philippe Girardet? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: It is remarkably difficult to obtain a loan in a difficult economic climate. This notion can be expressed with the following adage: A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it …
Carroll D. Wright? Mark Twain? Charles H. Grosvenor? James G. Blaine? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I hope you will be able to settle a disagreement between friends concerning the following quotation: Figures don’t lie, but liars figure. My friend believes that this saying originated with Samuel Clemens otherwise known as Mark Twain. I think …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Figures Don’t Lie, But Liars Do Figure”