Winston Churchill? Jack Fishman? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Here is a mystifying question for you. Winston Churchill has been credited with crafting two nearly identical quotations beginning as follows: 1) Do not let specious plans … 2) Do not let spacious plans … The two expressions differed by a single word: specious/spacious. Did Churchill utter …
Category Archives: Winston Churchill
An Appeaser Is One Who Feeds a Crocodile, Hoping It Will Eat Him Last
Winston Churchill? Readers Digest? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: British leader Winston Churchill has been credited with a crafting a vivid definition for “appeaser” that cleverly employed figurative language: An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile — hoping it will eat him last. It supposedly was spoken during World War II, but I have not …
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War Does Not Determine Who Is Right — Only Who Is Left
Bertrand Russell? Frank P. Hobgood? Jessie Woodrow Wilson Sayre? Reader’s Digest? Montreal Star? Andrew Carnegie? Winston Churchill? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A piquant slogan has been used by pacifists and peace activists for decades. Here are two variants: War does not determine who is right — only who is left. The atom bomb will never …
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Any Time You See Anything Big and Working Well, You Want To Take It Over
Winston Churchill? Clement Attlee? Emmanuel Shinwell? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There was an extraordinary and ribald conversation between Winston Churchill and his political opponent Clement Attlee that supposedly took place in the men’s room of the House of Commons. Was this event authentic or apocryphal? Quote Investigator: The earliest evidence located by QI appeared in …
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With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Voltaire? Spider-Man? Winston Churchill? Theodore Roosevelt? Franklin D. Roosevelt? Lord Melbourne? John Cumming? Hercules G. R. Robinson? Henry W. Haynes? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a popular saying about the relationship between ascendancy and obligation: With great power comes great responsibility. This expression has been attributed to two very different sources: Voltaire and the …
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If You’re Going Through Hell, Keep Going
Winston Churchill? John Randall Dunn? J. Woodruff Smith? Douglas Bloch? Linda Crew? Mario Murillo? Brian Mulroney? Wally Amos? Ron Kenoly? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Winston Churchill is often associated with quotations about steadfastness and tenacity. Consider the following saying: If you’re going through hell, keep going. I have seen this statement attributed to Churchill several …
“If I Were Your Wife I’d Put Poison in Your Tea!” “If I Were Your Husband I’d Drink It”
Winston Churchill? Nancy Astor? Marshall Pinckney Wilder? Patrick O’Dowd? David Lloyd George? George Bernard Shaw? Groucho Marx? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a famous anecdote in which an exasperated individual fantasizes aloud about giving poison to another person. The sharp rejoinder is surprising and hilarious. Usually the two named participants are Nancy Astor and …
A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World While the Truth Is Putting On Its Shoes
Mark Twain? Jonathan Swift? Thomas Francklin? Fisher Ames? Thomas Jefferson? John Randolph? Charles Haddon Spurgeon? Winston Churchill? Terry Pratchett? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: An insightful remark about the rapid transmission of lies is often attributed to Mark Twain. Here are two versions: (1) A lie travels around the globe while the truth is putting on its …
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There But for the Grace of God, Goes God
Winston Churchill? Leo C. Rosten? Walter Winchell? Herman J. Mankiewicz? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Winston Churchill had an unhappy experience negotiating with a politician who held a very high opinion of himself. Afterward Churchill reportedly concocted the perfect remark for deflating the pretensions of an egomaniac: There, but for the grace of God, goes God. …
Success Is Going from Failure to Failure Without Losing Your Enthusiasm
Winston Churchill? Abraham Lincoln? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Winston Churchill once famously exhorted an audience to “never give in”. There is another saying attributed to him about perseverance. Here are three versions: 1) Success is the ability to move from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm. 2) Success is going from failure …
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