Category: Uncategorized

George Bernard Shaw? Ogden Nash? Viva Begbie? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: I once heard the following humorous definition:

Marriage — An alliance between two people: One can’t sleep with the window shut; the other can’t sleep with the window open.

This definition has been attributed to the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw and the U.S. poet Ogden Nash. Would you please explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: In May 1948 “The Saturday Evening Post” published the poem “I Do, I Will, I Have” by Ogden Nash which considered compatibility between marriage partners. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:^[1] 1948 May 8, The Saturday Evening Post, “I Do, I Will, I Have” by Ogden Nash, Start Page 82, Quote Page 82, Saturday Evening Post Society, Inc., Indianapolis Indiana. (EBSCO MasterFILE Premier)

I know that marriage is a legal and religious alliance entered into by
a man who can’t sleep with the window shut and
a woman who can’t sleep with the window open.

The poem also contained the following lines:

Moreover, just as I am unsure of the difference between flora and fauna, and flotsam and jetsam,

I am quite sure that marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other never forgetsam

QI has found no substantive evidence that George Bernard Shaw employed the quip under examination. He died in 1950, and the joke was attributed to him by 1989.

Below are selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading Marriage: One Partner Can’t Sleep With the Window Shut and the Other Partner Can’t Sleep With the Window Open

Arthur C. Clarke? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: A famous science fiction (SF) author was fearful that nationalistic and jingoistic impulses were driving conflict on Earth and endangering the future of humankind. The author hoped that space exploration would redirect and lessen those passions.

A flag flapping in the breeze is a traditional signifier of allegiance, but there are no gusts of wind in outer space. Also, there is no atmosphere on the moon. The SF author said something like:

There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum.

Would you please help me to find a citation?

Quote Investigator: In July 1969 emissaries from Earth were poised to land on the moon for the first time. To mark the occasion the editors of “Time” magazine requested an essay from SF author Arthur C. Clarke who described his dreams and predictions. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:^[1] 1969 July 18, Time, To the Moon: Special Supplement, Beyond the Moon: No End by Arthur C. Clarke, Start Page 31, Quote Page 31, Column 3, Time Inc., New York. (Verified with scans)

There is always the fear, of course, that men will carry the curse of their animosities into space. But it is more likely that in the long run, those who go out to the stars will leave behind the barriers of nation and race that divide them now. There is a hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags will not wave in a vacuum; our present tribal conflicts cannot be sustained in the hostile environment of space.

The NASA picture above shows Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin together with the U.S. flag at Tranquility Base. A metal rod sewn inside the top edge of the flag prevented it from drooping. Perhaps Clarke underestimated the desire to retain symbols.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading There Is a Hopeful Symbolism in the Fact That Flags Will Not Wave in a Vacuum

Marilyn Monroe? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: Glamourous movie icon Marilyn Monroe apparently expressed misgivings about her sex symbol status because she did not wish to be viewed simply as a thing. Would you please help me to find a citation for her remarks on this topic?

Quote Investigator: “LIFE” magazine Associate Editor Richard Meryman and Marilyn Monroe engaged in a series of conversations, and the transcripts were edited into the form of a lengthy monologue which was published in “LIFE” in August 1962 shortly before the death of Monroe. The following passage includes a pun on cymbals versus symbols. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:^[1]1962 August 3, LIFE, Volume 53, Number 5, Marilyn Monroe lets her hair down about being famous: “Fame will go by and—so long, I’ve had you”, (Monroe spoke with LIFE Associate … Continue reading

I never quite understood it — this sex symbol — I always thought symbols were those things you clash together! That’s the trouble, a sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate to be a thing. But if I’m going to be a symbol of something I’d rather have it sex than some other things they’ve got symbols of!

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading That’s the Trouble, a Sex Symbol Becomes a Thing. I Just Hate To Be a Thing

Frank Lloyd Wright? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: The famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright was critical of the new buildings he saw in cities. Apparently, he said:

Novelty is mistaken for Progress.

Would you please help me to find a citation?

Quote Investigator: In 1955 Frank Lloyd Wright published an essay titled “The Future of the City” in “The Saturday Review”. He felt that the existing configurations of cities were constraining the visions of planners and architects:^[1] 1955 May 21, The Saturday Review, The Future of the City by Frank Lloyd Wright, Start Page 10, Quote Page 10, Column 1 and 2, Saturday Review Associates, New York. (Unz)

But sponsors of the modern city, first founded by Cain (the murderer of his brother), refuse to consider fundamental and human alteration in the city’s structure because of our gigantic “investment” in the city as it is. And so the Machine Age has not liberated us.

The phrase about novelty and progress was posed as a rhetorical question. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:

We are imprisoned: witness the new buildings on our city streets. Isn’t it true to say that—in these buildings—Novelty is mistaken for Progress? Of steel and glass we have aplenty; but what of the imaginative and creative powers which make of these glittering materials structures responsive to the needs of the Human Individual? What of Real Sun, Real Air, Real Leisure?

This article ends with one more citation.

Continue reading Novelty is Mistaken for Progress