Tracing Quotations
Dorothy Parker? Bennett Cerf? Richard Martin Stern? Playboy’s Party Jokes? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The famous wit Dorothy Parker had trouble controlling her use of alcohol. According to legend she was asked about her experiences at a party, and she replied: One more drink and I’d have been under the host! Parker’s line was …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: One More Drink, and I’m Under the Host”
Ralph Waldo Emerson? Elbert Hubbard? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: New forms of celebrity have been created in recent years. TikTok and YouTube have produced influencers. Yet, popularity has become remarkably transient. I am reminded of the following harsh comment: (1) Fame is proof that the people are gullible.(2) Fame is proof that people are …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Fame Is Proof That The People Are Gullible”
Henry David Thoreau? Winston Churchill? Marshall McLuhan? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Automation has been occurring for centuries, but the modern age has taken the trend to new extremes. The culture of humanity has shifted dramatically because of the tools created by technology. Here are two versions of a pertinent adage: (1) People have become …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: People Have Become the Tools of Their Tools”
Margaret Fuller? Thomas Carlyle? Henry James Sr.? William James? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Horace Greely? Julia Ward Howe? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous nineteenth-century thinker once delivered a grand affirmation of the universe: “I accept the universe.” Another well-known intellectual heard about this pronouncement and attempted to puncture the elevated tone of the avowal: …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: “I Accept the Universe” “Gad! She’d Better!””
Voltaire? Molière? Jean Scholastique Pitton? Nicolas Frémont d’Ablancourt? Pierre Ortigue de Vaumorière? Benjamin Franklin? Laurence Sterne? Samuel Johnson? Ben Jonson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A family of sayings presents a humorously cynical viewpoint about medicine. Here are four examples: (1) Physicians sit by your bedside till they kill you, or nature cures you. (2) …
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? Elena Gorokhova? Marah Ellis Ryan? Rex Stout? Arleigh A. Burke? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: People living under oppressive rulers know that they are being fed lies, but their responses are limited. Also, the rulers know that the populace contains cynical disbelievers. Yet, the rituals of deception continue: (1) They lie.(2) We know …
Mr X of The Royal Magazine? Boys’ Life Magazine? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A linguistic puzzle asks the reader to correctly punctuate the following sentence: Time flies you cannot they pass at such irregular intervals. A similar puzzle asks the reader to punctuate this sentence: Time flies you cannot they go too quickly. Most …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Time Flies; You Cannot; They Pass At Such Irregular Intervals”
Mary Pettibone Poole? A. A. Milne? Dorothy L. Sayers? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: If you cannot think of something clever to say then you can resort to the next best strategy. You can quote someone else who is clever. This point has been expressed with a concise statement. Would you please help me to …
Emily Dickinson? Mabel Loomis Todd? Rumer Godden? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Life can be overwhelming. The flow of experience induces intense sensations and emotions. Changes in the world and in each individual are continuous and unavoidable. Here are two versions of a pertinent observation: (1) To live is so startling it leaves little time …
Franklin D. Roosevelt? James Roosevelt? Richard ‘Skeets’ Gallagher? William ‘Buster’ Collier Jr.? C. Z. Weiser? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Successful public speaking is both difficult and stressful, but it can be highly rewarding. The following tripartite guidance is both cogent and humorous. Here are two versions: Be brief, be sincere. and be seated.Be sincere, …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Be Sincere; Be Brief; Be Seated”