Will Rogers? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Achieving extensive knowledge and expertise in one domain can be quite valuable, but it does not automatically allow one to pontificate intelligently in a different domain. The intellectual mastery attained by some experts is quite narrow. Here is a germane remark: There is nothing so stupid as an …
Category Archives: Will Rogers
Quote Origin: My Idea of a Gentleman Is He Who Can Play a Cornet and Won’t
Oscar Wilde? Mark Twain? Frank Fiest? Will Rogers? Walter Armstrong? Herman Lindauer? William M. Lewis? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: What do the following musical instruments have in common: cornet, ukulele, saxophone, bagpipes, accordion, and banjo? Each of these instruments has a distinctive sound that is unpleasant to some listeners providing inspiration for a family …
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Quote Origin: You’re Only As Good As Your Last Performance
James R. Quirk? Douglas Fairbanks? Walter Winchell? Louella Parsons? Barbara Stanwyck? Jack Osterman? Al Jolson? Walter Huston? Will Rogers? Hedda Hopper? Marie Dressler? Arthur Ashe? Laurence Olivier? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The popularity and power of an entertainer, top athlete, or financial whiz can ascend vertiginously, but it can also decline precipitously. A harshly pragmatic …
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Quote Origin: It Ain’t What You Don’t Know That Gets You Into Trouble. It’s What You Know for Sure That Just Ain’t So
Mark Twain? Josh Billings? Artemus Ward? Kin Hubbard? Will Rogers? Edwin Howard Armstrong? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The Oscar-winning 2015 film “The Big Short” begins with a display of the following statement: It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. The …
Quote Origin: The Single Most Important Fact, Perhaps, of the Entire Movie Industry: Nobody Knows Anything
William Goldman? Will Rogers? Kevin Smith? Gus Van Sant? Robert Towne? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Predicting the box office success of a forthcoming movie is apparently impossible. It is also difficult to anticipate the critical response. These challenges are encapsulated in a Hollywood adage of exasperation: Nobody knows anything. Would you please explore the …
Quote Origin: Diplomacy Frequently Consists in Soothingly Saying “Nice Doggie” Until You Have a Chance to Pick Up a Rock
Will Rogers? Walter Trumbull? Franklin Rodman? Frances Rodman? Robert Phelps? Wynn Catlin? Harold Winkler? Robert Phelps? Question for Quote Investigator: The reassuring words of a diplomat may sharply diverge from the true agenda of the envoy. The following metaphor depicts hidden hostility: Diplomacy is the art of being able to say “nice doggie” until you …
Quote Origin: Liberty Don’t Work as Good in Practice as It Does in Speech
Will Rogers? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The popular American humorist Will Rogers once made a memorable remark about liberty. Unfortunately, the precise phrasing was not memorable enough. Here are several versions: Would you please help me to determine whether Will Rogers really delivered one of these lines? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1927 a …
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Quote Origin: There Are No Strangers Here; Only Friends You Haven’t Yet Met
William Butler Yeats? Will Rogers? Edgar Guest? Margaret Lee Runbeck? Dorothy C. Wegner? Roberta Lieberman? Mitch Albom? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The Nobel Prize winning Irish poet William Butler Yeats often receives credit for the following sentiment: There are no strangers here; only friends you haven’t yet met. Is this ascription accurate? Reply from …
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Quote Origin: Good Judgment Depends Mostly on Experience and Experience Usually Comes from Poor Judgment
Rita Mae Brown? Will Rogers? Fred Rose? C. H. White? Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.? Uncle Zeke? Barry LePatner? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Good judgement is rooted in experience, but a humorous addendum notes that the crucible of experience is poor judgment. This notion has been credited to humorist Will Rogers and activist Rita Mae …
Quote Origin: Using Money You Haven’t Earned To Buy Things You Don’t Need To Impress People You Don’t Like
Will Smith? Walter Winchell? Robert Quillen? Edgar Allan Moss? Tony Wons? Ken Murray? Emile Gauvreau? Walter Slezak? Will Rogers? Chuck Palahniuk? Tyler Durden? Question for Quote Investigator: Have you ever purchased an item and wondered the next day what motivated your inexplicable action? Here are two versions of an entertaining saying about consumerism: 1) Too …