Oscar Wilde? Louise Jopling? Hesketh Pearson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: After the enormously successful debut of a comedy by Oscar Wilde the audience demanded that the playwright deliver a few words. His speech included a comically self-congratulatory line that was similar to the following: You think almost as highly of the play as I …
Category Archives: Oscar Wilde
Quote Origin: Everything Is About Sex Except Sex. Sex Is About Power
Oscar Wilde? Michael Cunningham? Robert Klitzman? Robert Michels? Frank Underwood? Kevin Spacey? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: While reading about the precipitous downfall of an influential literary tastemaker and powerbroker at “The Paris Review” I encountered once again a remark attributed to Oscar Wilde. Here are three versions: The Wilde ascription is often labeled …
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Quote Origin: The Country Is a Damp Sort of Place Where All Sorts of Birds Fly About Uncooked
Oscar Wilde? Alfred Hitchcock? Joseph Wood Krutch? Margo Coleman? Bennett Cerf? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Anyone who has grown tired of reading idealized and overly sentimental visions of nature will enjoy the following skewed definition: Nature is where the birds fly around uncooked. These words are credited to Oscar Wilde, but I haven’t found …
Quote Origin: Please Do Not Shoot the Pianist. He Is Doing His Best
Oscar Wilde? Sign in Leadville? Minister in Pooleville, Arkansas? Question for Quote Investigator: When Oscar Wilde was touring the United States he apparently saw a sign in a saloon requesting goodwill for the keyboardist. Here are three versions: Would you please explore the provenance of this appeal? Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest instance of …
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Quote Origin: Work is the Curse of the Drinking Classes
Oscar Wilde? Frank Harris? Irish Barrister? Wilton Lackaye? Margaret Waters? Well-Known Young Clubman? Gustav Traub? Mike Romanoff? Samuel George Blythe? Arthur M. Binstead? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The scintillating conversationalist Oscar Wilde enjoyed modifying dusty platitudes to construct comical alternatives. For example, he reportedly permuted an old complaint about the working class to yield: …
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Quote Origin: Dancing Is a Perpendicular Expression of a Horizontal Desire
George Bernard Shaw? George Melly? I. S. Johar? Ann Landers? Patrick Harte? Robert Frost? Winston Churchill? Oscar Wilde? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Here are two versions of an adage highlighting the sensual aspects of popular gyrations: George Bernard Shaw, Ann Landers, Oscar Wilde, and Robert Frost have received credit for this saying. What do …
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Quote Origin: Genius Is Born, Not Paid
Oscar Wilde? Frank Harris? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following passage from a philosophical magazine of 1815 asserts that intellectual gifts are innate: That genius is born, is a trite truth; education never creates, it only cultivates and directs the faculties. An ancient adage states this controversial thesis concisely for the realm of poetry: …
Quote Origin: Britain and America Are Two Nations Divided by a Common Language
George Bernard Shaw? Mallory Browne? Raymond Gram Swing? Oscar Wilde? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The influential Irish playwright and commentator George Bernard Shaw has been credited with a humorous remark about language. Here are four versions: 1) Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language.2) The English and Americans are two …
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Quote Origin: If You Want To Tell People the Truth, You’d Better Make Them Laugh or They’ll Kill You
George Bernard Shaw? Oscar Wilde? Cecile Starr? Billy Wilder? Richard Pryor? James L. Brooks? Dustin Hoffman? Charles Ludlam? Question for Quote Investigator: Dramatists have discovered that challenging material often elicits hostility or boredom. This is dangerous for creators because jobs in the entertainment industry are precarious. Yet, a provocative production leavened with humor is often …
Quote Origin: Obscene and Not Heard
Groucho Marx? Ethel Barrymore? Maurice Barrymore? Paul M. Potter? Gertrude Battles Lane? John Lennon? Joe E. Lewis? Robert Heinlein? Marilyn Manson? Augustus John? Oscar Wilde? Question for Quote Investigator: There is well-known and often repeated admonition directed at young people who are making too much noise: Children should be seen and not heard. Wordplay has …