Tracing Quotations
Ernest Hemingway? Lionel Trilling? Ladislaus Boros? Larry Williams? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: U.S. novelist Ernest Hemingway has been credited with the following fatalistic remark: All true stories end in death. I have been unable to find this precise statement in Hemingway’s oeuvre. Apparently, he employed a different phrasing. Would you please help me find …
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Dizzy Dean? Muhammad Ali? Sonny Liston? Reggie Jackson? Babe Ruth? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Unfounded boasts are criticized, but an individual who sets and accomplishes an audacious goal can win praise. Here are three versions of a pertinent saying: (1) It ain’t bragging if you can do it.(2) It ain’t bragging when you can …
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Emily Dickinson? Thomas Wentworth Higginson? Mabel Loomis Todd? M. Lincoln Schuster? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent literary figure was asked about her life experiences, and she responded emphatically: I find ecstasy in living; the mere sense of living is joy enough. This remark has been attributed to nineteenth-century poet Emily Dickinson. Some sources …
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Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.? Bernard Baruch? Joseph F. Dinneen? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Prescient investors pulled their money out of the U.S. stock market shortly before the crash of 1929. According to a Wall Street legend, a financier who received a stock tip from a shoeshine boy experienced the following epiphany: When a shoeshine …
Maya Angelou? Oprah Winfrey? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The true character of a person cannot be hidden for a lengthy period behind a mask of deception. Here are two versions of a pertinent saying: (1) When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.(2) When someone shows you who they are …
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John James Audubon? Joseph Cornell? Patricia Holt? Jack Barclay? Birdwatcher’s Proverb? Jack Kornfield? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Much of our knowledge is obtained indirectly through reference books and instruction manuals. Yet, direct observation provides a more accurate guide. Here is pertinent saying from the domain of ornithology: When the bird and the book disagree, …
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Thich Nhat Hanh? Sylvia Boorstein? Peg Bracken? Ollie Crawford? George D. Ludcke? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Humorous sayings can be created by ingeniously transforming mundane expressions. Most people are familiar with the entreaty: Don’t just sit there, do something. However, the following reordered sentence indicates that inaction is often desirable: Don’t just do something, …
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John Ruskin? Douglas Adams? Sydney J. Harris? Paul Harvey? Stanisław Jerzy Lec? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A group that acts in unison can cause enormous positive or negative changes. Each member of a group typically celebrates favorable developments but disavows adverse events. Here are three versions of a pertinent metaphorical adage: (1) No single …
Maya Angelou? Samuel Johnson? Sheree Crute? Salman Rushdie? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A writer, now celebrated, faced harsh criticism in the early days of her career. She responded by acknowledging that she required greater mental focus to succeed: If I wanted to write, I had to be willing to develop a kind of concentration …
Samuel Johnson? James Boswell? William Dodd? Maya Angelou? Arthur C. Clarke? Vermont Royster? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent literary figure crafted a fascinating statement about concentration. Here are two versions: (1) When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully. (2) Nothing so wonderfully concentrates …