He’s a Writer for the Ages—For the Ages of Four to Eight

Dorothy Parker? George Jean Nathan? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: The trenchant prose of Dorothy Parker has always impressed me. Reportedly she once lacerated a writer who was receiving a superfluity of undeserved accolades with the following:

He is a writer for the ages — the ages of four to eight.

Is this Parker’s joke? When was this written?

Quote Investigator: The earliest evidence located by QI of a remark matching this template appeared in the ‘Patter’ section of “The Reader’s Digest” in 1938. The age limits were different, and the barb was aimed at a playwright, but the core joke was the same. In addition, the words were not attributed to Dorothy Parker; instead, another wit named George Jean Nathan was credited. Here are two examples from the ‘Patter’ section:[1] 1938 January, Reader’s Digest, Volume 32, Patter, Quote Page 19, The Reader’s Digest Association. (Verified on paper)

When the Critics Crack the Quip

Tallulah Bankhead barged down the Nile last night as Cleopatra — and sank. —John Mason Brown in N.Y. Post

Mr. ———— writes his plays for the ages — the ages between five and twelve —George Jean Nathan

A decade later, in 1948 the anecdote and quotation collector Bennett Cerf published the volume “Shake Well Before Using”, and he included an instance of the saying ascribed to Parker:[2]1950, Shake Well Before Using by Bennett Cerf, Quote Page 219, Garden City Books, Garden City, New York. (Reprint of 1948 Simon and Schuster edition; Verified on paper in 1950 Garden City Books … Continue reading

Miss Parker was asked another time to express an opinion of an overpraised novelist. She remarked, “He’s a writer for the ages—for the ages of four to eight.”

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading “He’s a Writer for the Ages—For the Ages of Four to Eight”

References

References
↑1 1938 January, Reader’s Digest, Volume 32, Patter, Quote Page 19, The Reader’s Digest Association. (Verified on paper)
↑2 1950, Shake Well Before Using by Bennett Cerf, Quote Page 219, Garden City Books, Garden City, New York. (Reprint of 1948 Simon and Schuster edition; Verified on paper in 1950 Garden City Books edition)

If Men Could Get Pregnant, Abortion Would Be a Sacrament

Florynce Kennedy? Gloria Steinem? Elderly Irish Taxicab Driver? Germaine Greer? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: An incendiary quotation on the topic of abortion has an uncertain authorship. The following words have been attributed to both Florynce Kennedy and Gloria Steinem:

If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.

Could you determine who said it first?

Quote Investigator: The earliest published evidence located by QI appeared in an issue of the periodical “Off Our Backs” dated June 24, 1971 in which a speech given by the prominent activist Florynce Kennedy at a rally held on May 15, 1971 in Washington D.C. was described:[1]1971 June 24, Off Our Backs: A Women’s News Journal, Volume 1, Number 23, “bringing it home: if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament” by Chris Hobbs, Quote Page 20, … Continue reading

Florynce Kennedy, author of Abortion Rap defined the situation with her usual clarity: “If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.” She also read parts of the Metropolitan Abortion Alliance’s statement on the media and urged a national boycott of the media sponsors.

The leading feminist Gloria Steinem also used the expression in speeches delivered in 1971, but intriguingly Steinem pointed to another person as creator of this saying. In her 1983 memoir “Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions” Steinem indicated that the statement was spoken to her and Florynce Kennedy by the “elderly Irish woman driver” of a taxi in Boston. Details are given further below.

So, the quotation was popularized by Kennedy and Steinem, but the origin can be traced back to an anonymous taxicab driver. Top researcher Ralph Keyes noted this fact in his important reference “The Quote Verifier”.[2] 2006, The Quote Verifier by Ralph Keyes, Quote Page 62, St Martin’s Griffin, New York. (Verified on paper)

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading “If Men Could Get Pregnant, Abortion Would Be a Sacrament”

References

References
↑1 1971 June 24, Off Our Backs: A Women’s News Journal, Volume 1, Number 23, “bringing it home: if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament” by Chris Hobbs, Quote Page 20, Column 1, Published by Off Our Backs, Inc. (JSTOR) link link
↑2 2006, The Quote Verifier by Ralph Keyes, Quote Page 62, St Martin’s Griffin, New York. (Verified on paper)

Behind Every Great Fortune There Is a Crime

Honoré de Balzac? Mario Puzo? Pierre Mille? Frank P. Walsh? Samuel Merwin? James Henry Yoxall? C. Wright Mills? Jane Bryant Quinn? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: The popular 1969 novel “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo recounted the violent tale of a Mafia family, and the epigraph selected by the author was fascinating:

Behind every great fortune there is a crime.
—Balzac

While searching I found a few different versions of this saying. Yet, I have been unable to locate this maxim in a work written by Honoré de Balzac:

  • Behind every great fortune lies a great crime
  • Every great fortune begins with a crime
  • At the root of every great fortune there was a crime.

Should Balzac really be credited with this saying?

Quote Investigator: QI believes that this adage was inspired by a sentence that was written by Honoré de Balzac, but the expression has been simplified in an evolutionary process. Here is the original in French from a serialization of “Le Père Goriot” published in “Revue de Paris” in 1834:[1]1834, Revue de Paris, Volume 12, Le Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac, Seconde Partie: L’entrée dans le monde, Start Page 237, Quote Page 258, Au Bureau De La Revue De Paris, Paris, France. … Continue reading

Le secret des grandes fortunes sans cause apparente est un crime oublié, parce qu’il a été proprement fait.

Balzac published a series of interlinked novels called “La Comédie Humaine” or “The Human Comedy”, and “Le Père Goriot” was part of this series. Eventually all were translated into English, and here is a rendering of the statement above published in 1896:[2]1896, Comédie Humaine by Honoré de Balzac, Edited by George Saintsbury, Old Goriot (Le Père Goriot), Translated by Ellen Marriage, Quote Page 124, J. M. Dent and Co., London and New York. (Google … Continue reading

The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed.

Here is another translation into English that was published in 1900:[3]1900, The Standard Wormeley Edition: La Comédie Humaine of Honoré de Balzac, Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley, Père Goriot, Quote Page 142, Hardy, Prat & Co., Boston, Massachusetts. … Continue reading

The secret of a great fortune made without apparent cause is soon forgotten, if the crime is committed in a respectable way.

Note that Honoré de Balzac did not pronounce a general rule that larceny was at the root of all large fortunes. However, the simplified statement that is popular in modern times is arguably more provocative and consequently more memorable.

The simplification process is illustrated by an instance of the saying printed in a periodical in 1912. The following words were credited to an unidentified “French writer”. QI hypothesizes that they were inspired by a schematic memory of Balzac’s words:[4] 1912 May 18, Charleston News and Courier, Conan Doyle’s Yarn, (Paris Correspondence New York Sun), Quote Page 8, Column 5, Charleston, South Carolina. (GenealogyBank)

At the base of every great fortune there is a great crime.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading “Behind Every Great Fortune There Is a Crime”

References

References
↑1 1834, Revue de Paris, Volume 12, Le Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac, Seconde Partie: L’entrée dans le monde, Start Page 237, Quote Page 258, Au Bureau De La Revue De Paris, Paris, France. (Google Books full view) link
↑2 1896, Comédie Humaine by Honoré de Balzac, Edited by George Saintsbury, Old Goriot (Le Père Goriot), Translated by Ellen Marriage, Quote Page 124, J. M. Dent and Co., London and New York. (Google Books full view) link
↑3 1900, The Standard Wormeley Edition: La Comédie Humaine of Honoré de Balzac, Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley, Père Goriot, Quote Page 142, Hardy, Prat & Co., Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books full view) link
↑4 1912 May 18, Charleston News and Courier, Conan Doyle’s Yarn, (Paris Correspondence New York Sun), Quote Page 8, Column 5, Charleston, South Carolina. (GenealogyBank)

Golf: Like Chasing a Quinine Pill Around a Cow Pasture

Winston Churchill? Apocryphal? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: Winston Churchill played golf for a period of time, but he switched his avocation to painting. The following description of golf is sometimes attributed to him:

Like chasing a quinine pill around a cow pasture.

Did Churchill use this expression and did he coin it?

Quote investigator: There is good evidence that Churchill did employ this simile. It is listed in the important reference “Irrepressible Churchill: A Treasury of Winston Churchill’s Wit” by Kay Halle with a date of 1915.[1] 1966, Irrepressible Churchill: A Treasury of Winston Churchill’s Wit by Kay Halle, Year: 1915, Quote Page 77, World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New York. (Verified on paper) The author labeled the quotation “Ear-witness” which meant that a friend shared by Halle and Churchill ascribed the witticism to Churchill. However, sayings of this type have a long history, and a close match for the above statement was in circulation by 1895. Hence, QI thinks it is unlikely that Churchill crafted the expression.

A jocular portrayal of a golf outing was presented in “The Harvard Lampoon” of Harvard University in 1892. The drinking of beer was accentuated in this account. Future comical accounts often mentioned multi-acre lots:[2]1892, The Harvard Lampoon. Laughs for the Lampoon, (The Best Things that have appeared in the Harvard Lampoon during the College Year from October 1891 to June 1892), Quote Page 13, Column 2, Harvard … Continue reading

THE WAY TO PLAY GOLF.

Get a foot-ball, two croquet mallets or old umbrella handles, and six cases of beer; carry the same to a ten-acre lot, then get out in the sun and swat the leather till you get a thirst. Every thirst counts ten, and the man with the biggest score to his credit when the beer gives out wins.

In December 1894 a profile of a Chicago golfer named Charles B. MacDonald was printed in multiple U.S. newspapers. The story included a saying that equated a golf ball and a quinine pill, and the attribution was anonymous. Boldface has been added to excerpts below:[3] 1894 December 16, Idaho Statesman,”King of the Links: McDonald, the Chicago Golfer, Learned the Royal Sport at St. Andrews”, Quote Page 7, Column 3, Boise, Idaho. (GenealogyBank)[4] 1894 December 21, Little Falls Weekly Transcript, King of the Links, Page 3, Column 6, Little Falls, Minnesota. (Chronicling America)

Four or five alleged matches for the championship of the United States and of America were held at different times this year, and the sport of knocking a quinine pill around a 40 acre lot, as some humorist describes the game, is now the rage from Maine to Texas.

In May 1895 “Scribner’s Magazine” printed an article about golf that included a humorous depiction of the game placed between quotation marks without an attribution. This statement was similar to the one ascribed to Churchill:[5] 1895 May, Scribner’s Magazine, Volume 17, Number 5, Golf by Henry E. Howland, Start Page 531, Quote Page 536, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. (Google Books full view) link

The scoffer who speaks with a contempt not born of familiarity, or views it with assumed indifference, may assert that the game, with its system of strokes and score, will restore the unhealthy atmosphere of the croquet ground; that it will try the souls of the clergy and become the undoing of parishioners. “It is simply driving a quinine pill over a cow pasture.”

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading “Golf: Like Chasing a Quinine Pill Around a Cow Pasture”

References

References
↑1 1966, Irrepressible Churchill: A Treasury of Winston Churchill’s Wit by Kay Halle, Year: 1915, Quote Page 77, World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New York. (Verified on paper)
↑2 1892, The Harvard Lampoon. Laughs for the Lampoon, (The Best Things that have appeared in the Harvard Lampoon during the College Year from October 1891 to June 1892), Quote Page 13, Column 2, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Google Books full view) link
↑3 1894 December 16, Idaho Statesman,”King of the Links: McDonald, the Chicago Golfer, Learned the Royal Sport at St. Andrews”, Quote Page 7, Column 3, Boise, Idaho. (GenealogyBank)
↑4 1894 December 21, Little Falls Weekly Transcript, King of the Links, Page 3, Column 6, Little Falls, Minnesota. (Chronicling America)
↑5 1895 May, Scribner’s Magazine, Volume 17, Number 5, Golf by Henry E. Howland, Start Page 531, Quote Page 536, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. (Google Books full view) link

“I Wish I Had Said That” “You Will, Oscar, You Will”

Oscar Wilde? James McNeill Whistler? Apocryphal?

Detail from depiction of Wilde and Whistler by Phil May in 1895

Question for Quote Investigator: I would like to learn more about a famous anecdote involving James McNeill Whistler, the painter who is known for his iconic portrait of his mother. Apparently, Whistler was able to trump Oscar Wilde, one of the greatest wits of the nineteenth century who was occasionally accused of appropriating the clever expressions spoken by others.

During a party Whistler made a humorous remark and the following statements were exchanged:

Oscar Wilde: I wish I had said that.
James McNeill Whistler: You will, Oscar, you will.

The accounts of this story I have read were written after the death of Oscar Wilde in 1900. Do earlier reports exist? Also, what was the quip that inspired Wilde’s compliment?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest evidence known to QI was published in January 1886 in “The Sunday Herald” of Boston, Massachusetts. James McNeill Whistler was planning to visit the United States and conduct a lecture tour. William M. Chase, a friend of Whistler’s, was asked about the content of the forthcoming lectures and responded with caustic words about Oscar Wilde. The article included a version of the anecdote. Boldface has been added to excerpts:1

“Was his talk on art similar in any respect to Mr. Wilde’s?”

“Well, as Oscar Wilde cribbed from Whistler almost everything he said in his lecture here about art that was worth saying, there may be some remote resemblance between the two lectures as to their matter, but that is certainly all.”

Whistler pricked this bubble of Wilde very neatly and epigrammatically at a Paris salon last season presided over by a well known and popular lady. Whistler had been notably witty during the evening and finally made a bon mot more than usually pointed and happy that convulsed his listeners.

Wilde, who was present, approved Mr. Whistler’s brightness, and wondered why he had not thought of the witticism himself. ‘You will,’ promptly replied Whistler, ‘you will.’ This lightning comment on Mr. Wilde’s wonderful ability to think of other people’s bright things and to repeat them as his own had, you may imagine, an immediate and most discomforting effect on Mr. Wilde.

Thanks to top researcher Stephen Goranson who located the above citation.

In May 1886 a version of the Wilde and Whistler anecdote was printed in a Wichita, Kansas newspaper. This instance was very similar to one given in “The Sunday Herald” above. The text was extracted from the longer article and slightly condensed.2

The next earliest evidence known to QI was printed in the “Jamestown Weekly Alert” of the Dakota Territory in February 1887.3 The same story was reprinted in “Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly” in May 1887:4

A Boston artist tells this story of Whistler and Oscar Wilde, who has the reputation of borrowing Whistler’s bright speeches. Having heard the artist say an unusually good thing Oscar exclaimed, deploringly: “I wish I could have said that.” “Oh,” replied Whistler derisively, “but you know you will say it.”

This short description did not specify the comment initially made by Whistler, and most early descriptions were similarly incomplete. The precise phrasing of Whistler’s rejoinder was variable. Intriguing versions of the tale were published years later; in 1913 Douglas Sladen published an instance and claimed that he was present when the words were spoken. Sladen stated that the witticism that inspired Wilde’s initial compliment was spoken by a “pretty woman”. In 1946 a biographer named Hesketh Pearson presented another interesting example of the anecdote. The details of these cites are given further below.

Here are selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading ““I Wish I Had Said That” “You Will, Oscar, You Will””

Quote Origin: Success Is Never Final and Failure Never Fatal. It’s Courage That Counts

Winston Churchill? Copywriter for Budweiser Beer? George F. Tilton? Sam Rayburn? Joe Paterno? John Wooden? Mike Ditka? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Here are two versions of stirring words that are often attributed to the well-known statesman Winston Churchill:

Success is never final and failure never fatal. It’s courage that counts.

Success is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.

I have never seen a source for this saying, and I suspect Churchill never said it. What do you think?

Reply from Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence that Churchill made this remark. The saying is listed in the comprehensive quotation collection “Churchill by Himself” in a special appendix called “Red Herrings: False Attributions”.1

Richard Langworth, the editor of “Churchill by Himself”, has a website with a webpage indicating that the saying above has been misattributed. Commenting more generally about expressions that are being improperly ascribed to Churchill he stated:2

These quotations are all over the Internet, none of them attributed, and just seem to multiply and get passed on, like the common cold.

QI hypothesizes that the saying above evolved from simpler partial statements during a multi-year process. A version closely matching the full expression appeared in the 1930s in an advertising campaign for Budweiser beer, a product of the Anheuser-Busch company. Based on current evidence, a copywriter for Budweiser probably synthesized the saying. Details are given further below.

Here are selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading “Quote Origin: Success Is Never Final and Failure Never Fatal. It’s Courage That Counts”

A Man Is a Fool If He Drinks Before He Reaches Fifty, and a Fool If He Doesn’t Drink Afterward

Frank Lloyd Wright? William Faulkner? The Elder Gross? Charles Seiberling? Charles Douville Coburn? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: The celebrated and innovative architect Frank Lloyd Wright is credited with the following remark about alcohol consumption:

A man is a fool if he drinks before he reaches the age of 50, and a fool if he doesn’t afterward.

Recently, I found a very similar saying attributed to the major literary figure William Faulkner:

But a man shouldn’t fool with booze until he’s fifty; then he’s a damnfool if he doesn’t.

Are these quotations accurate? Is it possible that one of these individuals heard it from the other? Perhaps this saying predates Wright and Faulkner. Could you explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: The quotations ascribed to Frank Lloyd Wright and William Faulkner are well-founded and detailed citations for them are given further below.

The idea that drinking in the early decades of life might attenuate its long-term pleasurability can be found in the eighteenth century. Here is an example in a Salem, Massachusetts newspaper in 1792 where the age of demarcation was thirty. Boldface has been added to some excerpts:[1] 1792 September 11, Salem Gazette, Volume VI, Number 309, An Extract, Quote Page 4, Column 1, Salem, Massachusetts. (GenealogyBank)

Do you think that singing boys take great delight in music? Satiety makes it rather tedious to them. He who drinks before he is thirty, can take no great pleasure in drinking.

By 1900 a statement matching the sayings used by Wright and Faulkner was in circulation. The guideline was offered as medical advice during the Annual Meeting of the American Social Science Association:[2]1900 December, Journal of Social Science, Number 38, Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Social Science Association Held in Washington, D.C. on May 7 to May 11, 1900, (Comments at the … Continue reading

The best judges of the proper use or abuse of alcohol are medical men, who carefully note causes and effect. I would rather have personally observed facts than whole tomes of theories. In youth alcohol is of no benefit: it is harmful. In the aged it is a blessing, if used properly. Some one has said, “A man is a fool who drinks before he is fifty, and a blank fool who does not do so moderately thereafter.” Whiskey should be taken by the aged when overcome with fatigue and before taking food, as a tired man has a tired stomach; and a small portion of the stimulant will lift up the vitality and make good digestion possible.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading “A Man Is a Fool If He Drinks Before He Reaches Fifty, and a Fool If He Doesn’t Drink Afterward”

References

References
↑1 1792 September 11, Salem Gazette, Volume VI, Number 309, An Extract, Quote Page 4, Column 1, Salem, Massachusetts. (GenealogyBank)
↑2 1900 December, Journal of Social Science, Number 38, Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Social Science Association Held in Washington, D.C. on May 7 to May 11, 1900, (Comments at the close of the morning session of the Department of Education and Art on May 9, 1900), Start Page 125, Quote Page 127 and 128, Published for the American Social Science Association by Damrell & Upham and the Boston Book Company, Boston, Massachusetts and G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York. (Google Books full view) link

Amateurs Practice Until They Get It Right; Professionals Practice Until They Can’t Get It Wrong

George W. Loomis? Percy C. Buck? Harold Craxton? Julie Andrews? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: The creator of the following insightful saying was listed as unknown:

Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong.

While searching for background information I came across this interesting variation:

Amateurs practice till they get it right; professionals practice till they can’t get it wrong.

Could you find out more about this modern dictum?

Quote Investigator: Because this adage can be expressed in many ways it is difficult to trace. The earliest evidence located by QI was in the domain of education in 1902. A school superintendent named George W. Loomis whose talk was recorded in the “Michigan School Moderator” discussed the best way to teach students to spell properly and employed a precursor of the modern proverb. Boldface has been added to some excerpts below:[1]1902 March 20, Michigan School Moderator (The Moderator), Editor Henry R. Pattengill, Volume 22, Spelling, (Footnote describes article: A talk to the critic teachers of the Central State Normal … Continue reading

It must be admitted that spelling is not taught successfully; indeed, the difficulty lies in the fact that it is seldom taught at all. Spelling lessons are assigned, studied, recited, but not taught. Much of the time spent in hearing children recite—guess till they get it right—should be spent in a definite teaching process, until they can not get it wrong.

In 1922 the distinctive second half of the expression was used in an educational book titled “Swimming and Diving”:[2] 1922, Swimming and Diving by Gerald Barnes, Quote Page 37, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. (Google Books full view) link

This coordination of arms and legs is perhaps the most difficult as well as the most important thing about the breast stroke. After each element has been mastered separately, practice the combination on land until you cannot get it wrong.

In 1944 a full version of the adage appeared in the volume “Psychology for Musicians” by Percy C. Buck who was an organist and a prominent Professor of Music at the University of London. This popular book was reprinted several times in the succeeding decades. Buck did not take credit for the saying which was presented as an anonymous definition:[3]1944, Psychology for Musicians by Percy C. Buck, Quote Page 102, Geoffrey Cumberlege: Oxford University Press, London. (Fourth Impression 1946) (Note about date: QI believes that the quotation … Continue reading[4] 1944, Psychology for Musicians by Percy C. Buck, Quote Page 102, Oxford University Press, London. (Tenth Impression 1967)(Verified on paper)

What is the real difference between a professional and an amateur? Does not your mind immediately turn to the shallow explanation of money-payments? Two definitions have been made which may help you to think deeper than that:

“An amateur can be satisfied with knowing a fact; a professional must know the reason why.”

“An amateur practises until he can do a thing right, a professional until he can’t do it wrong.”

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading “Amateurs Practice Until They Get It Right; Professionals Practice Until They Can’t Get It Wrong”

References

References
↑1 1902 March 20, Michigan School Moderator (The Moderator), Editor Henry R. Pattengill, Volume 22, Spelling, (Footnote describes article: A talk to the critic teachers of the Central State Normal Training School by George W. Loomis, Superintendent), Quote Page 432, Column 1, Lansing, Michigan. (Google Books full view) link
↑2 1922, Swimming and Diving by Gerald Barnes, Quote Page 37, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. (Google Books full view) link
↑3 1944, Psychology for Musicians by Percy C. Buck, Quote Page 102, Geoffrey Cumberlege: Oxford University Press, London. (Fourth Impression 1946) (Note about date: QI believes that the quotation appeared in the 1944 edition, but currently QI has only examined a 1946 impression. Author Percy C. Buck died in 1947, and the front matter does not list any other authors. It also does not mention any revisions to the first edition in 1944.)(Verified on paper)
↑4 1944, Psychology for Musicians by Percy C. Buck, Quote Page 102, Oxford University Press, London. (Tenth Impression 1967)(Verified on paper)

Quote Origin: If the Bee Disappeared Off the Face of the Earth, Man Would Only Have Four Years Left To Live

Albert Einstein? Charles Darwin? Maurice Maeterlinck? E. O. Wilson? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: A dramatic quotation about the dangers of environmental upheaval is attributed to the brilliant physicist Albert Einstein. Here are two versions:

If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.

If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live

Some commentators are skeptical about this ascription. Could you examine this expression?

Reply from Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence that Einstein ever made a remark of this type about bees. Alice Calaprice, the editor of the important collection “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein”, placed the saying in the “Probably Not by Einstein” section of her reference.1

The earliest evidence known to QI of a connection between Einstein and disastrous environmental scenarios caused by the disappearance of bees was published in the “Canadian Bee Journal” in 1941. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:2

If I remember well, it was Einstein who said: “Remove the bee from the earth and at the same stroke you remove at least one hundred thousand plants that will not survive.”

QI has located no supporting evidence that Einstein made the remark above. Instead, QI has determined that a statement of this type was made by the major literary figure Maurice Maeterlinck in his work “The Life of the Bee” in 1901. The saying was widely disseminated in the decades afterwards.

In May 1965 a French periodical about nature and animals called “La Vie des Bêtes et l’Ami des Bêtes” stated that Einstein had calculated a grim four year time limit for humanity if bees disappeared. This was the earliest evidence known to QI of a connection between Einstein who died in 1955 and the dire deadline. Details are given further below.

Below is a selected chronological sequence of citations that attempt to roughly outline the evolution of this expression and its conceptual formation. Because this task is difficult and the available information is fragmentary this entry is lengthy. QI is indebted to the pioneering research of Bonnie Taylor-Blake and Ray Girvan who explored this topic and located many important citations including the two given previously.

Continue reading “Quote Origin: If the Bee Disappeared Off the Face of the Earth, Man Would Only Have Four Years Left To Live”

Every Time I Smell It, I Shall Be Reminded of You

Oscar Wilde? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: I saw an article on the web about brilliant repartee that listed the “Top 10 Best Comebacks”. One of the response lines was from the famous wit Oscar Wilde who addressed an audience from the stage after the performance of a play he had written. The acclamation for his work was great, but it was not universal. One unhappy and agitated person threw a bouquet with a rotten cabbage at the playwright. Wilde reportedly picked up the bouquet and without hesitation delivered the following riposte:

Thank you my friend. Every time I smell it, I shall be reminded of you.

I have been unable to find solid support for this entertaining story. Could you explore this anecdote?

Quote Investigator: QI believes that this tale is inaccurate; however, it was created by modifying and embellishing an incident that did occur on the opening night of Wilde’s play “The Importance of Being Earnest”. One version of the fictionalized story was depicted in the 1960 film “The Trials of Oscar Wilde”. This movie popularized the tale of a caustic encounter, and the screenwriters may have even concocted the clever riposte.

The earliest evidence known to QI appeared in an undated letter sent by Oscar Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas who was the son of Lord Queensberry. The person attempting to insult and humiliate Wilde was Lord Queensberry, and in Wilde’s letter he was referred to as “the Scarlet Marquis”:[1]1920, The Oscar Wilde Collection of John B. Stetson, Jr., (To be sold April 23), Twenty-Five Letters to Lord Alfred Douglas from Oscar Wilde, (First offered at auction as one lot), Letter number 304, … Continue reading

Yes! the Scarlet Marquis made a plot to address the audience on the first night of my play !! Algy Burke revealed it and he was not allowed to enter. He left a grotesque bouquet of vegetables for me! This of course makes his conduct idiotic—robs it of dignity.

In this version of the tale the bouquet was not given directly to Wilde, and he did not speak to Lord Queensberry.

Oscar Wilde died in 1900, and the next published evidence known to QI appeared in the 1914 book “Oscar Wilde and Myself” by Lord Alfred Douglas:[2] 1914, Oscar Wilde and Myself by Lord Alfred Douglas, Quote Page 76 and 81, Duffield & Company, New York. (Google Books full view) link

Failing to make disruption between myself and Wilde, Lord Queensberry adopted a different line of tactics; and, I believe, with the sincere view of saving me from what he knew was an undesirable entanglement, he went ahead to disgrace Wilde publicly. At a theatre where one of Wilde’s plays was running he caused a bouquet of carrots to be handed up to Wilde over the footlights, and he left his card on him at his club with certain odious remarks written on the back of it.

In this version the bouquet was composed of carrots, and it was not thrown. No jocular retort from Wilde was reported by Douglas.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading “Every Time I Smell It, I Shall Be Reminded of You”

References

References
↑1 1920, The Oscar Wilde Collection of John B. Stetson, Jr., (To be sold April 23), Twenty-Five Letters to Lord Alfred Douglas from Oscar Wilde, (First offered at auction as one lot), Letter number 304, No date, (Excerpt is from the description of letter), Quote Page 56, The Anderson Galleries, [Mitchell Kennerley, President], New York. (Google Books full view) link
↑2 1914, Oscar Wilde and Myself by Lord Alfred Douglas, Quote Page 76 and 81, Duffield & Company, New York. (Google Books full view) link