Mickey Spillane? Hy Gardner? Frank Smikel? Apocryphal?
Black and red caviar from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: Popular writers endure a litany of complaints directed at their prose, e.g., mediocre, clumsy, crude, uninteresting, and undemanding. A bestselling writer once employed a clever analogy to explain this antagonism.
The writer contended that literary darlings were trying to market caviar, whereas popular writers were peddling salted peanuts. Jealousy occurred because the latter always pleased the crowd more than the former. Would you help me to find a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1961 syndicated columnist Hy Gardner of the “New York Herald Tribune” interviewed top-selling U.S. crime novelist Mickey Spillane who was best known for creating the hard-boiled detective character Mike Hammer. Gardner asked Spillane about the prominent author Ernest Hemingway who had died recently:1
We wondered if Spillane and Hemingway had ever met face-to-face. “No, I never met Hemingway. And from the nasty cracks he was quoted as making about me I doubt if either of us missed anything.”
Spillane commented on the barbs aimed at him by fellow authors. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:
“Funny thing. Those big-shot writers—pardon me, authors—never could understand why the Mike Hammer books outsold their works. They could never dig the fact that there are more salted peanuts consumed than caviar.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Eleanor Roosevelt? Barbara De Angelis? Joan Rivers? Bill Keane? Emily Dickinson? Liz Curtis Higgs? Babatunde Olatunji? Susan Barkdoll? Nicholas L. Santowassa? Abigail Van Buren? Anonymous?
An hourglass together with footprints on the beach from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: A rhyming series of statements highlight the uncertainty of the future and the desirability of appreciating the present. Here are two versions:
(1) The past is history. The future is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.
(2) Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.
This saying has been attributed to social activist Eleanor Roosevelt, relationship counselor Barbara De Angelis, comedian Joan Rivers, cartoonist Bill Keane, and others. I have been unable to find solid citations. Would you please help?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest strong match located by QI appeared in a speech delivered at a graduation ceremony in June 1993 at Rutgers Preparatory School in New Jersey. The speaker was a member of the Board of Trustees, but he credited an unnamed journalist. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Quoting a former journalist, he said, “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift, and that is why it’s called the present.”
QI has found no substantive evidence supporting the ascription to Eleanor Roosevelt who died in 1962. The earliest attribution to Roosevelt located by QI appeared in 1999.
QI believes that this statement evolved over time. The segment containing the rhyming words “history” and “mystery” evolved separately from the segment with wordplay based on “gift” and “present”. The two segments were subsequently combined. The creator remains anonymous.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Question for Quote Investigator: Many years ago I encountered a comic strip presenting a humorous commentary about the modern condition. In a series of panels a person complained to a doctor about feeling overtired, anxious, depressed, and paranoid. The doctor simply replied that the person was perfectly normal. I do not recall the exact phrasing. I think the creator was cartoonist Jules Feiffer. Would you please help me to find a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In January 1969 “The Village Voice” newsweekly of New York printed a six-panel comic strip by Jules Feiffer. Each panel contained one of the phrases below accompanied with the drawing of a face displaying an evolving sequence of unhappy expressions. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
I TOLD THE DOCTOR I WAS OVERTIRED— ANXIETY RIDDEN— COMPULSIVELY ACTIVE— CONSTANTLY DEPRESSED— WITH RECURRING FITS OF PARANOIA.. TURNS OUT I’M NORMAL.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Question for Quote Investigator: Anxiety about making a mistake can cause inaction and paralysis. Moving forward inevitably leads to some errors and imperfections. Yet it is necessary to make choices, take action, and fix the accompanying mistakes. Here is a pertinent adage:
The greatest mistake is continually fearing you will make one.
This statement has been attributed to U.S. writer, publisher, and philosopher Elbert Hubbard. Would you please help me to find a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: Elbert Hubbard was the chief writer of the periodical “The Philistine”. The November 1901 issue contained a collection of miscellaneous quotations which included the following three items from Hubbard. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Not only does beauty fade, but it leaves a record upon the countenance as to what became of it.
The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.
The more one knows the more one simplifies.
QI believes that Elbert Hubbard deserves credit for the quotation under examination. Hubbard sometimes used quotations from others without listing an ascription, but QI has found no other substantive candidate for authorship of this quotation.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Partially illuminated tree shown late at night from Unsplash
Robert Bloch? Lon Chaney? Stephen King? Ray Bradbury? Carlos Clarens? Eleanor Ringel? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: A clown is usually a figure of humor or pathos, but a clown can also be frightening. If one appeared on your doorstep late at night it would be deeply unsettling. The following saying has been attributed to horror writer Robert Bloch, horror actor Lon Chaney, and horror author Stephen King. Here are five versions:
(1) The essence of true horror — the clown, at midnight. (2) There is nothing laughable about a clown in the moonlight. (3) There’s nothing funny about a clown in the moonlight. (4) No one loves a clown at midnight. (5) A clown isn’t funny in the moonlight.
I have not seen any solid citations for this saying. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: Robert Bloch was best known as the author of the 1959 book “Psycho” which was made into a chilling 1960 film by Alfred Hitchcock. In May 1962 the magazine “Famous Monsters of Filmland” published “The Clown At Midnight” by Robert Bloch. This was the second part of a two part article. Bloch wrote about his desire to visit the cinema “for shocks & shudders and the wholesome release of fears as old as all mankind”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Where our search will lead, I don’t know. It may be that we’ll discover the ultimate cinematic horror in a clown. Years ago, Lon Chaney said:
“A clown is funny in the circus ring, but what would be the normal reaction to opening a door at midnight and finding the same clown standing there in the moonlight?”
That, to me, is the essence of true horror — the clown, at midnight.
A note at the beginning of this 1962 article stated that the essay was reprinted from a 1960 issue of “Rogue”. QI has not directly examined this earlier article. The cover of the March 1960 issue of “Rogue” does list an article titled “The Clown at Midnight”.
QI has not yet found additional evidence supporting the attribution of the quotation to Lon Chaney. Chaney died in 1930. The final sentence with the word “essence” is a quotation directly from Bloch and not Chaney.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Mark Twain? Mabel Thatcher Wellman? Ellen H. Richards? John Harvey Kellogg? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: Longstanding habits are difficult to break. This notion has been expressed metaphorically as follows:
A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time.
This statement has been attributed to the famous humorist Mark Twain, but I have been unable to find a solid citation. Also, there exists a family of similar remarks with different phrasings. Variants use the words “flung”, “thrown”, and “tossed”. Were any of these remarks written or spoken by Mark Twain? Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest member of this family known to QI occurred in an installment of the serialized version of Mark Twain’s work “Pudd’nhead Wilson” which appeared in “The Century Magazine” in January 1894. The fourth chapter featured the following epigraph. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
HABIT is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed down-stairs a step at a time.—Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar.
Mark Twain used the expression again within an installment of his work titled “Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc” published in “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine” in May 1895. The narrator was a fictional version of Joan of Arc’s page and secretary:2
. . . I was resolved to face about, now, and begin over again, and never insult her more with deception. I started on the new policy by saying—still opening up with a small lie, of course, for habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed down stairs a step at a time . . .
In 1896 “Education: A Monthly Magazine” published a piece titled “The Physiological Law of Habit and Its Application To Common School Studies” by Mabel Thatcher Wellman which credited Twain with a variant expression using the word “throw”:3
As Mark Twain puts it, “No man is strong enough to throw habit out of the window, it must be coaxed step by step down stairs.” The surest way of overcoming a bad habit is to start a counter habit which, by its increasing force, makes resistance to the evil grow constantly less difficult . . .
Over the years other variants have entered circulation. These alternate versions were probably constructed based on faulty memories of Twain’s original statement.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Question for Quote Investigator: A famous headline appeared in the U.S. show business periodical “Variety” in 1935:
STICKS NIX HICK PIX
STICKS referred to rural audiences. NIX meant reject. HICK referred to a rural theme. PIX meant a motion picture. Thus, the headline was stating that rural audiences were not going to see films with rural themes.
I have seen other versions of this headline, e.g., STIX NIX HIX PIX. The situation is perplexing. Would you please determine the precise original text together with a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: Here is a sampling of close matches for this headline which have appeared over the years. The similarity of these candidates has caused confusion. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:
The original headline appeared on the front page of “Variety” on July 17, 1935. The following was the main banner together with the subheading:1
STICKS NIX HICK PIX NOT INTERESTED IN FARM DRAMA
In 1935 the editor of “Variety” was Abel Green, and the person assigned to construct the headline was Lin Bonner. Green was still the editor when he wrote on the topic of authorship thirty years later in 1965. The term “streamer” meant headline:2
The story itself was anything but one of this paper’s best and Lin Bonner was assigned to come up with a lively streamer. Bonner had only just been transferred from the Hollywood to the New York staff, coming east in the hope a change of climate would help his health. After he groped half an afternoon for the right swing and size of caption this editor applied the final touch. All unanticipated, a VARIETY classic was born.
Thus, Abel Green took credit for crafting the headline although he may have received some input from Lin Bonner. Sadly, Bonner died from cancer within three weeks of the headline appearance according to Green. Thus, Bonner’s testimony remains unavailable.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Mark Twain? Ann Landers? Turkish Proverb? Mohandas Gandhi? Seneca the Younger? Frederica Mathewes-Green? Anonymous?
Picture of a campfire cauldron from Pixabay
Question for Quote Investigator: Intense feelings of anger affect the body and mind negatively. This notion can be expressed metaphorically:
Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.
Mark Twain, Ann Landers, and Mohandas Gandhi have received credit for this saying, but I am skeptical because I have not seen any solid citations. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has found no substantive evidence that Mark Twain employed this saying. It does not appear on the Twain Quotes website edited by Barbara Schmidt,1 nor does it appear in the large compilation “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips” edited by Caroline Thomas Harnsberger.2
The earliest close match located by QI appeared in May 1955 within the “Daily News-Post” of Monrovia, California. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:3
Corrosive Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it’s stored than to anything on which it’s poured.
The saying above also appeared on the same day in other newspapers such as the “San Pedro News-Pilot”4of San Pedro, California and the “Evening Vanguard”5of Venice, California. The creator was anonymous.
The central metaphor of this expression has a long history in the Turkish language. A compact instance appeared in “A Dictionary of Turkish Proverbs” compiled by Metin Yurtbaşı:6
Keskin sirke küpüne/kabına zarar. Sour vinegar harms its jar. [A bad temper harms its possessor most!]
The dictionary provided a nineteenth century citation and a twentieth century citation for this proverb in Turkish:
ÖAA 1402 < Ş 3037 Ş. = Şinasi, Durüb-ı Emsâl-i Osmaniyye (Ottoman Proverbs), Istanbul, 1863. ÖAA = Ömer Asim Aksoy, Atasözleri Sözlüyü (Dictionary of Proverbs), Ankara, 1965.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Jean-Luc Godard? Ansel Adams? Richard Roud? Apocryphal?
Blurry image of Sydney, Australia from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: When you create a photograph or film your intentions should be well defined. Here are three pertinent statements which may be grouped together:
(1) There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept. (2) There’s no point in having a sharp image if intentions are blurred. (3) There’s no point in having sharp images if you’ve got fuzzy ideas.
This notion has been attributed to French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard and U.S. photographer Ansel Adams. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1963 the French journal “Cahiers du Cinéma” published a review by Jean-Luc Godard of recent works by the British documentary director Richard Leacock. Godard criticized Leacock’s style of cinéma-vérité because it did not embody a viewpoint or attitude. The following excerpt in French is accompanied with one possible English translation. Boldface has been added by QI:1
Privée ainsi de conscience, la caméra de Leacock, malgré son honnêteté, perd les deux qualités fondamentales d’une caméra ; l’intelligence et la sensibilité. Rien ne sert d’avoir une image nette si les intentions sont floues. Son manque de subjectivité conduit d’ailleurs Leacock à manquer finalement d’objectivité.
Thus deprived of conscience, Leacock’s camera, for all its honesty, loses the two fundamental qualities of a camera: intelligence and sensitivity. There’s no point in having a sharp image if intentions are blurred. Indeed, Leacock’s lack of subjectivity ultimately leads to a lack of objectivity.
Godard’s analysis of Leacock’s films also included the following statements:
On peut l’expliquer facilement en disant que l’équipe de Leacock met en scène au niveau d’un Gordon Douglas, même pas d’un Hathaway ou d’un Stuart Heisler. Avec en plus ce défaut qu’ils ne savent même pas qu’ils mettent en scène, et que le reportage pur n’existe pas.
This can easily be explained by saying that Leacock’s team directs at the level of a Gordon Douglas, not even a Hathaway or a Stuart Heisler. With the added flaw that they don’t even know they’re directing, and that pure reportage doesn’t exist.
In 1968 U.S. film critic Richard Roud published “Jean-Luc Godard”. Roud was a movie enthusiast who co-founded the New York Film Festival. In his book about Godard, Roud discussed cinéma vérité, and he included a germane quotation in English attributed to Godard. No citation was specified for the commentary, but the likely source was the “Cahiers du Cinéma” passages presented previously in this article:2
The implication, of course, is that cinéma vérité does not give us the truth. It, too, is a kind of counterfeit passed off as the real thing . . . Or like Godard’s view of Richard Leacock:
“There’s no point in having sharp images if you’ve got fuzzy ideas. Leacock’s lack of subjectivity leads him ultimately to a lack of objectivity. He doesn’t even know that he is a metteur en scène, that pure reportage doesn’t exist.”
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Question for Quote Investigator: Prominent Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw is a misquotation magnet. Numerous remarks have been ascribed to him that he never said. Apparently, he once grumbled about being “misquoted everywhere”. He believed that the inaccuracies were chasing him around the world. Would you please help me to find a citation.
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1933 the “Daily Herald” of London printed a piece about George Bernard Shaw who complained that his recent conversation with Helen Keller had been misreported. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
“I remember meeting her in London, as they say in their attacks, at Lady Astor’s. Conversation was difficult, as you would suppose, considering that she is both blind and deaf, and everything has to be spelt out by someone else on her fingers.
“She ‘sees’ you by feeling your face. It was rather embarrassing. It would have been in the worst possible taste to ignore her condition.
“I remarked, by way of a compliment, that she was wonderful, and added, jokingly, that she could see and hear better than her countrymen who could neither see nor hear.
“Someone takes a joking remark meant in all kindness and says I insulted Helen Keller by saying, ‘All Americans are deaf and blind—and dumb—anyway.’
“I tell you I have been misquoted everywhere, and the inaccuracies are chasing me round the world.”
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
