Mel Brooks? Carl Reiner? Betty Brainerd? Joey Bishop? Kenneth Tynan? S. Sylvan Simon? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: What makes something funny? Why do so many people find pratfalls humorous? The difference between comedy and tragedy has been described in a comically cynical remark with a tincture of cruelty: Tragedy is when I get a …
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Quote Origin: Nothing Enhances Authority So Much as Silence
Charles de Gaulle? Leonardo Da Vinci? André Maurois? Gerard Hopkins? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A pithy speech is more powerful than a long-winded oration. Concision amplifies potency. Here are two versions of this idea: Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.Nothing enhances authority more than silence. This statement has been credited to the French …
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Quote Origin: Falling Into the Singularity is Admittedly a Frightening Thing, But Now We Might Regard Ourselves as Caterpillars Who Will Soon Be Butterflies
Vernor Vinge? Hans Moravec? Irving John Good? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The creation of entities with superhuman intelligence would mark a new epoch in human history. Systems which outperform humans in tasks such determining 3D protein structures or playing the boardgame Go already exist. But these AI systems display narrow expertise. The advent of …
Proverb Origin: A Fish Wouldn’t Get Caught If It Kept Its Mouth Shut
Carol Mangiaracina? R. S. Bond? T. J. Ruddy? George Korber? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following humorous proverb encourages a person to remain silent: A fish wouldn’t get caught if it kept its mouth shut. Would you please explore the provenance of this saying? Reply from Quote Investigator: This saying is difficult to trace …
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Quote Origin: They Should Have Sufficient Arms and Ammunition to Maintain a Status of Independence
George Washington? Philip M. Crane? W. Cleon Skousen? Paul Broun? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following statement about armaments has been attributed to one of the Founding Fathers of the United States: A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a …
Palindrome Origin: Was It Eliot’s Toilet I Saw?
T. S. Eliot? Samuel Beckett? W. H. Auden? Vladimir Nabokov? Gloria Goddard? Clement Wood? J. L. Thompson? Tom Congdon? Alan Bennett? Question for Quote Investigator: The name of the major literary figure T. S. Eliot has inspired entertaining wordplay. A bookseller who visited the London headquarters of Eliot’s publisher, Faber and Faber, supposedly emerged with …
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Anecdote Origin: “I Can Hear the Donkey Bray” “Do You Believe Me or the Donkey?”
Mulla Nasreddin? Khodshah? Khoja Nasr ed-Dîn Effendi? Harry Charles Lukach? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: In the past you have examined a family of humorous anecdotes about credulousness. The punchline of these tales was: Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes? There is another anecdote of this type which seems to be older: …
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Quote Origin: One of the Symptoms of Approaching Nervous Breakdown Is the Belief That One’s Work Is Terribly Important
Bertrand Russell? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Many people are forgoing holidays and overworking themselves. Here is a pertinent quotation: One of the symptoms of approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important. These words have been attributed to British philosopher Bertrand Russell. Would you please help me to find a …
Quote Origin: It Actually Doesn’t Take Much To Be Considered a Difficult Woman. That’s Why There Are So Many of Us
Jane Goodall? Karen Karbo? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Shortly after English primatologist Jane Goodall died in October 2025, I repeatedly saw the following quotation attributed to her: It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us. Yet, I have been unable to find a …
Quote Origin: I’m Not Crazy. My Reality Is Just Different Than Yours
Lewis Carroll? Cheshire Cat? J.C. Penney Department Store? Sue? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous English fantasy author Lewis Carroll has been credited with a statement about nonconformity. Here are two versions: (1) I’m not crazy; my reality is just different than yours.(2) I’m not strange, weird, off, nor crazy, my reality is …
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