Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? Elena Gorokhova? Marah Ellis Ryan? Rex Stout? Arleigh A. Burke? Anonymous?
Matryoshka doll symbolizing nested lies from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: People living under oppressive rulers know that they are being fed lies, but their responses are limited. Also, the rulers know that the populace contains cynical disbelievers. Yet, the rituals of deception continue:
(1) They lie. (2) We know they are lying. (3) They know we know they are lying. (4) They keep lying. (5) We keep pretending to believe.
This series of statements has been attributed to anonymous citizens of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe during the cold war. It has also been ascribed to the famous Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. I have not seen a precise citation; hence, I am uncertain. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has not yet found a match for this series of expressions in the books or speeches of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
A close match appeared in the 2010 book “A Mountain of Crumbs: A Memoir” by Elena Gorokhova who was born in 1955 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). One theme of her memoir was the “game of vranyo”, i.e., the game of pretending. Gorokhova described a set of rules for the game. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
The rules are simple: they lie to us, we know they’re lying, they know we know they’re lying but they keep lying anyway, and we keep pretending to believe them.
The quotation above occurred in a section about Gorokhova’s experiences as a teenager, but she did not specify an exact time period for the quotation. Partially matching statements have been circulating for decades, but QI believes that the formulation above should be credited to Gorokhova.
Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Mr X of The Royal Magazine? Boys’ Life Magazine? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: A linguistic puzzle asks the reader to correctly punctuate the following sentence:
Time flies you cannot they pass at such irregular intervals.
A similar puzzle asks the reader to punctuate this sentence:
Time flies you cannot they go too quickly.
Most readers are familiar with the idiom “time flies” which highlights the perception that time passes quickly, but that semantic interpretation is misleading when analyzing the sentences above. Here is one possible solution for each sentence:
Time flies; you cannot; they pass at such irregular intervals. Time flies; you cannot; they go too quickly.
The word “flies” corresponds to the insects. The word “time” refers to measuring the speed of the insects. Would you please explore the history of this puzzle?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In January 1903 “The Royal Magazine” in London, England published the first sentence, and asked readers to interpret it. The puzzle was posed by the pseudonymous “Mr. X” who also asked readers to supply more brain-twisters. Boldface added to excerpts bi QI:1
Time flies you cannot they pass at such irregular intervals.
is a very clever catch sentence.
Mr. X is making a collection of puzzling sentences, and will be glad to hear from readers who know of any good ones.
The following month the magazine printed the answer. The interpretation of the phrase “time flies” diverged significantly from its traditional meaning:2
Time flies; you cannot; they pass at such irregular intervals.
(“Time,” of course, being used in the sense of timing a race, and “flies” being the well-known summer insects.)
Based on these citations, the puzzle was popularized by Mr. X. It is possible that Mr. X created this brainteaser. Alternatively, this item was already in circulation and the creator remains anonymous.
Additional details and citations are available in the article on the Medium platform which is located here.
Image Notes: Picture of a stopwatch from Stanos at Unsplash. The image has been retouched and cropped
Acknowledgement: This topic was encountered by QI during the research on the quip “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana”. Understanding the ambiguity of the phrase “time flies” is helpful when examining both of these topics.
1903 January, The Royal Magazine, Volume 9, Number 51, Mr. X — His Pages, Cryptic Sentences, Quote Page 299, Column 1, C. Arthur Pearson Ltd., London, England. (Google Books Full View) link↩︎
1903 February, The Royal Magazine, Volume 9, Number 52, Mr. X — His Pages, Notes About Puzzles in Previous Issues of The Royal, Cryptic Sentences, Quote Page 391, C. Arthur Pearson Ltd., London, England. (Google Books Full View) link↩︎
Mary Pettibone Poole? A. A. Milne? Dorothy L. Sayers? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: If you cannot think of something clever to say then you can resort to the next best strategy. You can quote someone else who is clever. This point has been expressed with a concise statement. Would you please help me to determine the creator and find a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: A matching quip appeared in the 1938 collection of quotations titled “A Glass Eye at a Keyhole” edited by Mary Pettibone Poole. Some of the items in the collection were already in circulation, and some were formulated by Poole. QI conjectures that the following was authored by Poole. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
The next best thing to being clever is being able to quote some one who is.
Additional details and citations are available in the article on the Medium platform which is located here.
In conclusion, QI believes Mary Pettibone Poole deserves credit for the remark in her 1938 compilation “A Glass Eye at a Keyhole”. No earlier matches have been uncovered at this time. Subsequent compilations of quotations by other editors have also credited Poole.
Image Notes: Quotation marks from Gimp, the GNU Image Manipulation Program.
[1] 1938, A Glass Eye at a Keyhole by Mary Pettibone Poole, Section: Excess Prophets, Quote Page 51, Published by Dorrance and Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Verified with scans; thanks to Dennis Lien and the University of Minnesota library system)
Question for Quote Investigator: Life can be overwhelming. The flow of experience induces intense sensations and emotions. Changes in the world and in each individual are continuous and unavoidable. Here are two versions of a pertinent observation:
(1) To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. (2) To live is so startling, it leaves but little room for other occupations.
This notion has been attributed to the famous nineteenth-century poet Emily Dickinson. Is this attribution correct? Would you please help me to find the correct phrasing and a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In the winter of 1871 Emily Dickinson sent a letter to Unitarian minister Thomas Wentworth Higginson who was one of her literary mentors. The letter appeared in the 1894 collection “Letters of Emily Dickinson” edited by Mabel Loomis Todd. Boldface added to excerpt by QI:1
To live is so startling, it leaves but little room for other occupations, though friends are, if possible, an event more fair.
Additional details and citations are available in the article on the Medium platform which is located here.
In conclusion, Emily Dickinson deserves credit for the words she wrote to Thomas Wentworth Higginson in the winter of 1871. Often the quotation is truncated. The words after the word “occupations” are omitted. A modified version of the quotation using the phrase “little time for anything else” entered circulation by 1968.
Image Notes: Photogravure of Emily Dickinson by artist Laura Coombs Hill from “The Life and Letters of Emily Dickinson” (1924) by Her Niece Martha Dickinson Bianchi.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Prudence Crowther whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
[1] 1894, Letters of Emily Dickinson, Edited by Mabel Loomis Todd, Volume 2 of 2, Chapter 7: To Mr Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Letter To: Mr. T. W. Higginson, Letter From: Emily Dickinson, Letter Date: Winter 1871, Quote Page 316, Roberts Brothers, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link
Franklin D. Roosevelt? James Roosevelt? Richard ‘Skeets’ Gallagher? William ‘Buster’ Collier Jr.? C. Z. Weiser? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: Successful public speaking is both difficult and stressful, but it can be highly rewarding. The following tripartite guidance is both cogent and humorous. Here are two versions:
Be brief, be sincere. and be seated. Be sincere, be brief, and be seated.
These words have been credited to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but I have never seen a solid citation. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest ascription to Franklin D. Roosevelt located by QI appeared in “The Washington Post” in January 1940. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
The other day James Roosevelt opened a talk he made at Hollywood by saying: “My father gave me these hints on speechmaking. Be sincere … be brief … be seated.”
Thus, there is some evidence that F.D.R. employed the expression while conversing with his son James. However, the remark was already circulating before 1940, and it is unlikely that F.D.R. coined it.
For example, in February 1935 U.S. actor Richard ‘Skeets’ Gallagher appeared on stage in a farce titled “Hollywood Holiday”. After a successful performance there were multiple curtain calls. When Gallagher appeared he delivered a one-line speech:2
Gallagher said his mother had often told him, “When you are called upon to make a speech, always be brief, sincere and be seated.”
It is conceivable that the expression was originally crafted by the mother of Richard ‘Skeets’ Gallagher, but the existence of other apparently unrelated citations in 1935 suggest to QI that the creator remains anonymous.
Additional details and citations are available in the article on the Medium platform which is located here.
Image Notes: Picture of empty seats from Hansjörg Keller at Unsplash. The image has been cropped.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Calvin Engime whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
[1] 1940 January 13, The Washington Post, My Friends, Quote Page 8, Column 2 and 3, Washington, D.C. (ProQuest)
[2] 1935 February 16, Journal-Every Evening, Movie Stars Back To Stage by W. P. F., Quote Page 19, Column 1, Wilmington, Delaware. (Newspapers_com)
Winston Churchill? Ernest Rutherford? Henry Tizard? Apocryphal?
Picture of miscellaneous currency from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: When access to money is restricted it becomes more difficult to accomplish tasks. Deeper and more creative thought is required to make progress. Here are four versions of a pertinent expression:
(1) We have not got any money, so we have got to think. (2) We haven’t any money so we’ve got to think. (3) We have run out of money. I guess we’ll have to think. (4) We are running short of money, so we must begin to think.
This notion has been ascribed to the prominent New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford and to the famous British statesman Winston Churchill. I am skeptical because I have not seen a solid citation. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1952 English chemist Henry Tizard was awarded the Messel Medal of the Society of Chemical Industry. He delivered a speech at a meeting of the organization on July 9th which was reported in the journal “The Chemical Age” on July 19th.Tizard employed the saying in his speech, but he credited colleague Ernest Rutherford. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
It was just as easy, Sir Henry said, to waste money on research as on anything else—especially if it were the taxpayers’ money. In this connection he recalled a remark once made by the late Lord Rutherford concerning the advantage held by scientists—‘We have not got any money, so we have got to think.’
Tizard clearly felt that the saying was valuable because he used it twice during his speech:2
It was more important to strengthen our technology than to expand our science. We must avoid the luxury of employing first-class scientists on second-class projects. Science was not enough; and he again quoted Lord Rutherford’s words, ‘We have not got any money, so we have got to think.’
The above passages from 1952 are the earliest matches known to QI. Ernest Rutherford died in 1937. The accuracy of the quotation and its ascription is based upon the memory and veracity of Tizard.
Attributions to Winston Churchill appeared by the 1990s, but he died in 1965. The saying does not appear in the comprehensive reference “Churchill By Himself: In His Own Words” compiled by Richard M. Langworth.3QI believes that the linkage to Churchill is not substantive.
Additional details and citations are available in the article on the Medium platform which is located here.
Image Notes: Picture of miscellaneous currency from John McArthur at Unsplash. The image has been cropped.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Jonathan Lighter and Dan Goncharoff who participated in a mailing list thread about old sayings back in 2011 which ultimately led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Goncharoff pointed to the intriguing 1943 citation. Thanks also to Bill Sweetman’s email inquiry which helped to motivate this research. Additional thanks to Barry Popik for his helpful investigation.
[1] 1952 July 19, The Chemical Age: The Weekly Journal of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry, Volume 67, Issue 1723, Article: SCI Chooses American President: Seventy-First Annual General Meeting Held at Aberdeen, Start Page 77, Quote Page 79, London, England. (Verified with scans)
[2] 1952 July 19, The Chemical Age: The Weekly Journal of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry, Volume 67, Issue 1723, Article: SCI Chooses American President: Seventy-First Annual General Meeting Held at Aberdeen, Start Page 77, Quote Page 80, London, England. (Verified with scans)
[3] 2013 (Kindle Edition), Churchill By Himself: In His Own Words by Winston S. Churchill, Compiled and edited by Richard M. Langworth, (Quotation is absent.) RosettaBooks.
Lin Yutang? Sydney J. Harris? Carl Bakal? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: The kaleidoscopic world of fashion contains fluctuating hemlines, shifting necklines, transparent fabrics, and revealing slits. A pundit once stated that fashion embodies the struggle between the admitted desire to dress and the unadmitted desire to undress. Would you please explore the provenance of this remark?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1937 “Vogue” magazine published an essay by Chinese linguist and inventor Lin Yutang which discussed contemporary fashion. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
At present, probably the most sophisticated innovation is the long gown with a high slit at the sides, coming away above the knees. The instinct, I feel, is essentially French. For women’s dress is most bewitching when there is a subtle interplay between the art of concealment and the art of revelation. All women’s dresses, in every age and country, are merely variations on the eternal theme of struggle between the admitted desire to dress and the unadmitted desire to undress.
Additional details and citations are available in the article on the Medium platform which is located here.
Image Notes: Dress with a revealing slit from WedMaid Dresses at Unsplash. The image has been cropped.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to the anonymous person whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
[1] 1937 July 1, Vogue, Volume 90, Issue 1, Features: A Chinawoman’s Chance by Lin Yutang, Start Page 42, Quote Page 42, Column 1, Condé Nast, New York, (ProQuest)
Question for Quote Investigator: Apparently, a famous psychoanalyst once said that when one looks back at one’s life the periods of struggle will be considered the most beautiful. Do you know whether something like this was said by Sigmund Freud or C. G. Jung?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1907 psychotherapist Sigmund Freud wrote a letter to his colleague C. G. Jung in which he encouraged Jung to continue his efforts despite opposition. Freud wished to found a journal which would be called “Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Let us found our journal. People will grumble, buy and read it. One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.
Freud penned the original statement in German. The translation above by Tania and James Stern appeared in the “Letters of Sigmund Freud” in 1960.
Additional details and citations are available in the article on the Medium platform which is located here.
Image Notes: Picture of a person climbing a cliff from Patrick Hodskins at Unsplash. The image has been cropped.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Jon Miltimore who wrote an article that referred to this quotation. Miltimore searched Wikiquote and the Quote Investigator website for the quotation and found nothing relevant. Miltimore also asked ChatGPT which replied that the quotation was “commonly attributed to Sigmund Freud. However, there is no concrete evidence that he actually said or wrote these words.” Now, a search at the Quote Investigator website will find this webpage of helpful information.
[1] 1960, Letters of Sigmund Freud, Selected and edited by Ernst L. Freud, Translated by Tania and James Stern, Letter Number 127, Letter from: Sigmund Freud, Letter to: C. G. Jung, Letter location: Rome, Date: September 19, 1907, Start Page 257, Quote Page 258, Basic Books, New York. (Verified with scans)
Charles F. Kettering? Alec Issigonis? T. R. Quaife? Norris Cotton? Paul H. Gilbert? Jimmy Durante? Ed Byron? Georg Christoph Lichtenberg? Anonymous?
Illustration of two camels from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: When the opinions of committee members diverge significantly it becomes difficult to formulate a coherent consensus. This notion has been humorously expressed with a clever adage:
A camel is a horse designed by a committee.
U.S. inventor Charles F. Kettering and U.K. automotive designer Alec Issigonis have received credit for this saying, but I am skeptical because I have never seen a solid citation. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in “Reader’s Digest” magazine in September 1954 within a section titled “Toward More Picturesque Speech”. The word ‘horse’ was omitted; hence, the match was incomplete. Yet, the key idea was communicated with the words ‘camel’ and ‘committee’. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
A camel looks like something put together by a committee (T. R. Quaife)
Often sayings published in “Reader’s Digest” were reprinted in other periodicals and achieved wide distribution. For example, the saying above appeared in November 1954 within the “Stockton Evening Record” of Stockton, California. The newspaper acknowledged “Reader’s Digest”.2 The saying also appeared in the “Manchester Evening News” of Manchester, England. The newspaper acknowledged T. R. Quaife.3
In December 1957 the full quip with the word ‘horse’ appeared within a joke published in “Sports Illustrated” magazine:4
Child: Daddy, what is a camel? Father: What is a what? Child: What is a camel? Father: A camel is a horse that was designed by a committee.
Thus, T. R. Quaife is the leading candidate for creator of the core expression using ‘camel’ and ‘committee’. An anonymous person improved the saying by adding the word ‘horse’.
Thematic precursors depicted the humorous transformation of animals such as the donkey, horse, camel, and cow. Below is an overview with dates representing the evolution of the joke:
1801: Der Esel kommt mir vor wie ein Pferd ins Holländische übersetzt. (Georg Christoph Lichtenberg) Translation: The donkey seems to me like a horse translated into Dutch.
1946 Feb: Daffynition: CAMEL: A warped horse. (Paul H. Gilbert)
1949 Nov: A camel is a horse that swallowed its saddle. (Attributed to Jimmy Durante)
1950 Oct: “What is your definition of a camel?” “That’s a cow upside down.” (Billy Glason)
1954 Sep: A camel looks like something put together by a committee (Attributed to T. R. Quaife in “Reader’s Digest”)
1955 Nov: Even a camel reminds you of an animal that was put together by a committee. (Anonymous)
1956 Feb: giraffe—it’s the kind of an animal that looks like it had been put together by a committee. (Anonymous)
1957 Apr: camel—a beast that looks as if it had been designed by a committee. (Anonymous)
1957 Dec: Child: What is a camel? Father: A camel is a horse that was designed by a committee. (Anonymous)
1958 Feb: A camel is a horse put together by a TV network planning board. (Credited to Ed Byron by Leonard Lyons)
1958 Mar: Heard the new definition of a camel? It’s a race horse designed by a committee. (Anonymous)
1958 Jul: The refreshed definition of a camel: a horse planned by a committee. (Anonymous)
1959 Jun: Definition of a camel: this is “a greyhound put together by a committee.” (Anonymous)
1961 Apr: A camel is a horse designed by a committee. (Attributed to Charles F. Kettering)
1964 Jul: The camel was an example of a horse designed by a committee. (Attributed to Alec Issigonis)
Additional details and citations are available in the article on the Medium platform which is located here.
Image Notes: Illustration of two camels from Sebastian Laube at Unsplash.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Jeff Braemer whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Also thanks to researcher Nigel Rees who pointed to the saying by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. Additional thanks to Barry Popik for his pioneering research. Popik located the 1957 “Sports Illustrated” citation and other helpful citations.
[1] 1954 September, Reader’s Digest, Volume 65, Number 389, Toward More Picturesque Speech, Quote Page 128, The Reader’s Digest Association, Pleasantville, New York. (Verified with hardcopy)
[2] 1954 November 2, Stockton Evening Record, Section: Editorial Page, Scissors: A Roundup of Best Humor, Quote Page 30, Column 5, Stockton, California. (Newspapers_com)
[3] 1954 November 15, Manchester Evening News, Mr. Manchester’s Diary, Quote Page 4, Column 9, Manchester, Greater Manchester, England. (Newspapers_com)
[4] 1957 December 9, Sports Illustrated, Events & Discoveries, Start Page 22, Quote Page 23, Column 1, Time Inc., New York. (Verified with scans)
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg? Stendhal? Marie-Henri Beyle? W. H. Auden? Bayard Taylor?
Depiction of Equus Scotti and other prehistoric animals
Question for Quote Investigator: A German humorist who lived in the 18th century thought the Dutch language sounded ridiculous as indicated by the following quip:
A donkey appears to me like a horse translated into Dutch.
Would you please help me to find the name of the humorist together with a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: German physicist and satirist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg died in 1799. His writings were collected and published shortly after his death. The second volume in 1801 contained the following saying in German. One possible translation into English has been included below. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Der Esel kommt mir vor wie ein Pferd ins Holländische übersetzt. The donkey seems to me like a horse translated into Dutch.
The quip was circulating in English by 1879 when it appeared in the book “Studies in German Literature” by Bayard Taylor:2
I think even our extravagant American idea of humor will appreciate his remark that “a donkey is simply a horse translated into Dutch;” . . .
Additional details and citations are available in the article on the Medium platform which is located here.
Image notes: Public domain depiction of the ancient horse Equus Scotti and other prehistoric animals used in the 1914 book Tierwanderungen in der Urwelt.
Acknowledgement: Quotation expert Nigel Rees pointed out that this saying was a thematic precursor of the popular statement “A camel is a horse designed by a committee”. This observation inspired QI to investigate this statement and create an article. Rees and other researchers knew that Georg Christoph Lichtenberg crafted this saying.
1801, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg’s Schriften nach dessen Tode aus den hinterlassenen Papieren gesammelt und herausgegeben (Georg Christoph Lichtenberg’s writings collected and published after his death from the papers he left behind), Edited by Ludwig Christian Lichtenberg and Friedrich Kries, Volume 2, Quote Page 378, Göttingen in der Dieterichschen Buchhandlung. (Google Books Full View) link↩︎
1879, Studies in German Literature by Bayard Taylor, Chapter 12: Richter, Quote Page 391, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York. (Google Books Full View) link↩︎
