Tracing Quotations
A. A. Milne? Satchel Paige? William Gunning King? Lucy Maud Montgomery? Alice G. Young? Woodrow Wilson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I enjoy relaxing and daydreaming, so I’ve always been attracted to the following saying: Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits. These words have been credited to the creator of Winnie the …
Continue reading “Sometimes I Sits and Thinks, and Sometimes I Just Sits”
H. L. Mencken? Raymond Chandler? Woodrow Wilson? Richard Le Gallienne? George Horace Lorimer? Dear Quote Investigator: Successful scribblers believe that all writing should be engaging. A popular adage places the onus squarely on the shoulders of the author: There are no dull subjects, just dull writers. This expression has been attributed to the curmudgeon essayist …
Continue reading “There Are Really No Dull Subjects, Only Dull Writers”
Woodrow Wilson? Abraham Lincoln? Rufus Choate? Thomas B. Macaulay? William Howard Taft? Mark Twain? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A biography of President Woodrow Wilson included an entertaining quotation about the preparation time needed for speeches of varying lengths. Here is an excerpt from the book:[1] 1946, The Wilson Era: Years of War and After 1917-1923 …
Blaise Pascal? John Locke? Benjamin Franklin? Henry David Thoreau? Cicero? Woodrow Wilson? Question for Quote Investigator: I was planning to end a letter with the following remark: If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter. But the number of different people credited with this comment is so numerous that an explanatory …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: If I Had More Time, I Would Have Written a Shorter Letter”
Winston Churchill? Woodrow Wilson? George Curzon? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Friends know I am an avid golfer and recently a book of quotations about the sport was given to me as a present. This quote from Winston Churchill captures the exasperation I feel when attempting to chip my ball near to the pin [GBGQ]: Golf …
Napoleon Bonaparte? Haley Barbour? Woodrow Wilson? Question for Quote Investigator: I saw Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi on television recently and he recited a quotation that he attributed to Napoleon: You know, Napoleon said ‘Never interfere with an enemy while he’s in the process of destroying himself.’ Is this an accurate quote? Could you investigate …