Tracing Quotations
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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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 …
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 …
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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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 …
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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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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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, …
Mae West? Gypsy Rose Lee? Ann Richards? Emma Bullet? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Activities such as growing a garden, consuming a savory dish, and dancing a striptease are best when performed slowly. An adage embodies this idea: If it is worth doing then it is worth doing slowly. This saying has been attributed to …
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David McCullough? Mark Twain? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough has received credit for an insightful expression about career choice: Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love. I am having difficulty finding a citation. Would you please help? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1996 David McCullough …
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