William Shakespeare? Mark Twain? Oscar Wilde? Winston Churchill? Abby Buchanan Longstreet? Frank Fay? Pierre de Roman? Joey Adams? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There exists a collection of similar jokes based on word play and the terms: battle, armed, wit, and half-wit. Here are some examples: 1) I would challenge you to a battle of …
Category Archives: Oscar Wilde
Quote Origin: Briefest Correspondence: Question Mark? Exclamation Mark!
Victor Hugo? Oscar Wilde? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a popular humorous anecdote about an exchange of letters between Victor Hugo and his publisher shortly after the publication of “Les Misérables”. Each message consisted of only a single character. Are you familiar with this story? Recently, I heard a version of the tale …
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Quote Origin: The Jawbone of an Ass
Oscar Wilde? Lord Paget? Henry Watterson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: In modern times a philistine is an uncultured anti-intellectual. In the Bible the Philistine people were enemies of the Israelites. Samson successfully fought against an army of Philistines while wielding the jawbone of an ass (donkey) as a devastating weapon. This background information allows …
Quote Origin: You Can’t Use Up Creativity. The More You Use, The More You Have
Maya Angelou? Oscar Wilde? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently on Pinterest and Twitter I have seen the following quotation attributed to the famous wit Oscar Wilde: You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. However, I thought these were the words of the acclaimed poet and memoirist Maya Angelou. …
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Quote Origin: Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Already Taken
Oscar Wilde? Thomas Merton? Gilbert Perreira? Menards? America Ferrera? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I have spent hours trying to determine whether Oscar Wilde wrote the following as commonly claimed: Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. I have not found a single good citation. What do you think? Reply from Quote Investigator: There …
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Quote Origin: History Does Not Repeat Itself. The Historians Repeat One Another
Max Beerbohm? Rupert Brooke? Philip Guedalla? Oscar Wilde? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I have heard two distinct, humorous, and antithetical sayings about the composition of history: 1) History repeats itself, and the historians repeat each other 2) History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat each other. Statements of this type have been attributed …
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Quote Origin: It Is the Best Play I Ever Slept Through
Oscar Wilde? Myron W. Reed? Will Rogers? Charlie Carter? Question for Quote Investigator: Several weeks ago I saw an article with the following humorous title: Why Arianna’s Talk Was the Best I’ve Ever Slept Through The piece was actually a very positive assessment and summary of a talk delivered by Arianna Huffington, founder of The …
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Dialogue Origin: “I Wish I Had Said That” “You Will, Oscar, You Will”
Oscar Wilde? James McNeill Whistler? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I would like to learn more about a famous anecdote involving James McNeill Whistler, the painter who is known for his iconic portrait of his mother. Apparently, Whistler was able to trump Oscar Wilde, one of the greatest wits of the nineteenth century who was …
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Quote Origin: Every Time I Smell It, I Shall Be Reminded of You
Oscar Wilde? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I saw an article on the web about brilliant repartee that listed the “Top 10 Best Comebacks”. One of the response lines was from the famous wit Oscar Wilde who addressed an audience from the stage after the performance of a play he had written. The acclamation for …
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Quote Origin: Quotation Is a Serviceable Substitute for Wit
Oscar Wilde? W. Somerset Maugham? George Bernard Shaw? Voltaire? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I thought you might enjoy the following remark attributed to Oscar Wilde: Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit. I saw this on the goodreads website, but the source of the saying was not listed. Further searching led to the following …
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