Milton Berle? Russell Kay? Young Student? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Teachers enjoy sharing an anecdote about a student who was taught that the word “frugal” meant “to save”. Afterwards the student generated the following story: The beautiful damsel was held prisoner in a tower. When she saw a prince nearby she cried out: “Frugal …
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Quote Origin: Sooner or Later We All Sit Down To the Banquet of Consequences
Robert Louis Stevenson? Robert W. Frank? Frederick B. Harris? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: If you engage in a beneficial or a harmful activity you may not immediately experience the result. The effect might be significantly delayed, but eventually you will experience the full repercussions. Here are three versions of a pertinent adage: (1) Everybody, …
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Quote Origin: I Regard the Theater as the Greatest of All Art Forms
Oscar Wilde? Thornton Wilder? Frank Capra? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent playwright once said: I regard the theater as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being. This statement has been …
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Quote Origin: I Had Exactly Four Seconds To Hot Up the Disintegrator, and Google Had Told Me It Wasn’t Enough
Raymond Chandler? Barry N. Malzberg? VladSavov? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Apparently, sometime during the 1950s a popular writer of detective fiction crafted a short passage parodying science fiction. Within the passage the word “Google” appeared long before the company Google existed. The passage displayed remarkable prescience. The word “Google” referred to an entity that …
Quote Origin: It’s Hard To Tell What Brings Happiness. Poverty and Wealth Have Both Failed
Kin Hubbard? Abe Martin? Beatrice Kaufman? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Poverty can cause unhappiness and despair. Yet, there is no easy solution to this human predicament because wealth does not guarantee joy and happiness. A popular humorist once stated: It’s hard to tell what brings happiness. Poverty and wealth have both failed. A remark …
Quote Origin: I Used To Be Indecisive, But Now I’m Not So Sure
Boscoe Pertwee? Umberto Eco? Christopher Hampton? Nigel Rees? Mario Cuomo? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Making definitive choices is arduous. A humorous expression reflects this predicament: I used to be indecisive, but now I’m not so sure. This quip has been attributed to Boscoe Pertwee who reportedly was an eighteenth-century wit, but I cannot find …
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Misprint Origin: A Large Crow Remained on the Platform for Half an Hour Singing ‘Rock of Ages’
Ethel Smyth? William Booth? C. S. Lewis? W. H. Auden? Benjamin Harrison? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Newspapers have produced hilarious statements due to misprints. According to an entertaining anecdote, a prominent religious figure once visited a town, and the local periodical reported: After his train had left the station a large crow remained on …
Quote Origin: Birthdays Are Feathers in the Broad Wing of Time
Jean Paul? Johann Paul Friedrich Richter? Charles T. Brooks? H. L. Mencken? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The experience of a birthday inspires philosophical reveries in some older people. Apparently, a literary figure once wrote: Birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time. This statement has been credited to the German Romantic writer Johann …
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Quote Origin: Once a Philosopher; Twice a Pervert
Voltaire? Richard Francis Burton? Judith Krantz? Bennett Cerf? Norman Mailer? Jean Cocteau? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A notorious anecdote claims that a prominent philosopher was once asked to join a group of libertines engaging in carnal behavior. The philosopher consented, and the group admired the performance. Yet, when asked to join the group again …
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Quote Origin: Adversity Is the Trial of Principle; Without It, One Hardly Knows Whether One Is an Honest Person
Henry Fielding? Charles Grandison? Samuel Richardson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: To avoid a major hardship an individual will sometimes abandon an ethical principle or a close friend. Experiencing a setback reveals a person’s inner strengths and weaknesses. Here are three versions of a pertinent saying: (1) Adversity is the trial of principle; without it, …