Quote Investigator® – Page 22

Quote Origin: Not Every Kind of Problem Someone Has with a Girlfriend or Boyfriend Is Necessarily Due To the Capitalist Mode of Production

Herbert Marcuse? Bryan Magee? Apocryphal?

**Aeroplane Factory from Birmingham Museums Trust**

Question for Quote Investigator: It is tempting to view the world through the prism of an all-encompassing sociocultural stance, e.g., Marxism, Freudianism, or existentialism. However, this distorted vision reduces one’s life to a didactic parable. Here is a humorous remark about this obsessive reductionism:

Not every problem someone has with his girlfriend is necessarily due to the capitalist mode of production.

This statement has been attributed to the prominent German-American philosopher Herbert Marcuse, but I have been unable to find a citation. Would you please help me?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1978 Herbert Marcuse was interviewed by U.K. philosopher and broadcaster Bryan Magee for the BBC. A transcript appeared in the BBC magazine “The Listener” of London. Magee asked Marcuse about Marx’s conception of the alienation of labor. Marcuse replied that it was a complicated subject. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

According to Marx, alienation was a socio-economic concept, and it meant (this is a very brutal abbreviation) that, under capitalism, men and women could not, in their work, fulfil their own individual humane faculties and needs, that this was due to the capitalist mode of production itself , and could only be remedied by radically changing this mode of production.

Marcuse commented on the misuse of the term alienation:

Today, the concept of alienation has been expanded and extended to such an extent that this original content is almost entirely lost—an extension all too easy, which I consider not only premature, but also wrong. For example, not every kind of trouble or problem someone has with his girlfriend or boyfriend is necessarily due to the capitalist mode of production.

“The Listener” magazine repeated and highlighted this statement in a simplified pull quote:²

‘Not every problem someone has with his girlfriend is necessarily due to the capitalist mode of production’

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Kennedy Didn’t Beat Nixon. Satire Beat Nixon

Chris Rock? Michael Cavna? Garry Trudeau? David Frost? Aaron McGruder? Anonymous?

**Picture of stickers stating “I Voted” from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: Satire can puncture pomposity and direct laughter at the powerful. The results of U.S. presidential elections have been swayed by satire. The 1960 contest between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon was close. The barbs directed at Nixon were effective in delaying his ascension to the White House by eight years. One astute commentator said:

Kennedy didn’t beat Nixon. Satire beat Nixon.

The above remark has been attributed to comedian Chris Rock. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 2008 journalist Michael Cavna published “Comedians Of Clout” in the “Washington Post”. Cavna gathered and presented comments about satire from contemporary comedians including Chris Rock:¹

. . . he acknowledges the potential power of electoral satire. The comic, speaking by phone, says he grew up hearing the lesson that back in 1960, “Kennedy didn’t beat Nixon. Satire beat Nixon.”

Thus, Chris Rock helped to popularize this expression, but he disclaimed credit. The originator remains unknown.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: No Generalization Is Wholly True—Not Even This One

Mark Twain? Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.? Alexandre Dumas fils? Lady Mary Wortley Montagu? Ellen Osborn? Manley H. Pike? Ben Johnson? Benjamin Disraeli? Alexander Chase? Roger O’Mara? Anonymous?

**One illuminated lightbulb from Pixabay**

Question for Quote Investigator: Making sweeping statements about the universe is difficult to resist, but exceptions seem to be unavoidable. The following comically paradoxical statement is popular. Here are two versions:

(1) All generalizations are false, including this one.
(2) No generalization is wholly true—not even this one.

This notion has been attributed to many people including U.S. humorist Mark Twain, U.S. jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., and French playwright Alexandre Dumas fils. The situation is confusing. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: This thought has been expressed in many ways. The identity of the creator remains uncertain. A precursor was penned in 1710 by English aristocrat Lady Mary Wortley Montagu who achieved fame via her eloquent letters. Below is an overview sampling with attributions and dates:

1710: General notions are generally wrong. (Lady Mary Wortley Montagu)

1882 Jul: All generalizations are false, including this one. (Attributed to a “witty Frenchman”)

1886: All generalizations are dangerous, even this one. (Attributed to Alexandre Dumas fils)

1892 Dec: No concise, unqualified assertion is ever entirely true—not even this one. (Manley H. Pike)

1894: No generalization is quite true; not even this one! (French adage)

1895 Aug: No generalization is absolutely correct—not even this one. (French adage)

1896 Jun: No generalization is accurate—not even this one. (Ellen Osborn)

1897 Jun: No generalization is quite true, not even this one. (Attributed to a “famous Frenchman”)

1903 May: No generalization is wholly true, not even this one. (Anonymous)

1911 Jul: No generalization is wholly true—not even this one. (Private detective Roger O’Mara)

1917 Feb: No generalization is ever completely true, not even this one. (Attributed to a Frenchman by Henry Cabot Lodge)

1926: Toutes les généralisations sont fausses, y compris celle que je viens de faire. Translation: All generalizations are wrong, including the one I just made. (Anonymous)

1930: No generalization is wholly true—not even this one. (Attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. by Owen Wister)

1943: All generalizations are dangerous, even this one. (Attributed to Alexandre Dumas fils)

1973 Jan: All generalizations are false including this one. (Attributed to Mark Twain)

1979 Mar: All generalizations are false, including this one. (Attributed to Ben Johnson)

1981: All generalizations are false, including this one. (Attributed to Benjamin Disraeli)

1984: All generalizations are false, including this one. (Attributed to Alexander Chase)

Below are additional details for selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: A Diplomat Is a Person Who Always Remembers a Woman’s Birthday But Never Remembers Her Age

Robert Frost? Lillian Russell? Fliegende Blätter? Evan Esar? Anonymous?

**Illustration of a birthday cake from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: An old-fashioned quip about vanity and aging states that a diplomat always remembers a person’s birthday but never remembers a person’s age. This joke has been attributed to the famous U.S. poet Robert Frost, but I have been unable to find a solid citation. The subject of the jest is usually a woman. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match for the core of this joke located by QI appeared as a filler item in a Rochester, New York newspaper in May 1896. The remark was ascribed to a German humor magazine called “Fliegende Blätter” (“Flying Pages”). A diplomat was not mentioned in this version. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Husband — Strange, but my wife always wants me to remember her birthday, but to forget her age.—Fliegende Blatter.

Another instance of the joke appeared as a filler item in a Monmouth, Illinois newspaper in June 1896:²

Many a woman wants her husband to remember her birthday but to forget her age.

Yet, another instance appeared in a Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania newspaper in July 1896:³

It is safe to remember a woman’s birthday, provided you forget her age.

In 1912 a newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee ⁴ and papers in several other locations ⁵ printed an anecdote in which the prominent actress Lillian Russell received credit for a version of the joke using the word “diplomat”:

Miss Lillian Russell, more beautiful than ever, was serving tea at the Professional Woman’s League bazaar at the Waldorf-Astoria. A member of the Spanish legation passed with two charming girls, and Miss Russell said.

“No wonder that young man is so popular with the ladies. He is a ladies’ diplomat.”

“How a ladies’ diplomat?” a composer asked. “Well,” explained Miss Russell, “he is the sort of chap who always remembers a woman’s birthday and forgets her age.”

Many years later in 1939 after the quip was already in circulation it was attributed to Robert Frost. Thus, the linkage to Frost was very weak.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Writing and Rewriting Are a Constant Search for What It Is One Is Saying

John Updike? William W. West? Donald M. Murray? Catherine Ann Jones? Apocryphal?

**Public domain illustration of a hand writing**

Question for Quote Investigator: An accomplished writer must constantly grapple with the difficulties of expressing events and ideas cogently with polish and precision. A famous prose stylist once illuminated the purpose of rewriting. Here are three versions:

(1) Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what one is saying.

(2) Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what it is one is saying.

(3) Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what you are trying to say.

Would you please help me to find the correct phrasing together with a precise citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1966 Professor of Education William W. West edited and published “On Writing, By Writers” which included a section about prominent author John Updike. The section presented commentary about several drafts of Updike’s short story “A Sense of Shelter”. The incremental changes revealed that several paragraphs were composed and subsequently excised from the final draft of the tale. Details about the setting and secondary characters were ultimately deemed superfluous. Updike commented about the process of revision. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Reading this transcript of my drafts of this story, I was struck by the several omitted paragraphs. I had forgotten them and, if my instinct was correct, they never did belong to the story …

Not all revisions are excisions. In a story about similar material, written a few months before this one, “Flight,’ I added hundreds of words of the kind of family-background material that was cut here. The earlier story was about such material; this story, somehow, was not. Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what it is one is saying. —J. U.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: You Could Compile the Worst Book in the World Entirely Out of Selecting Passages from the Best Writers in the World

G. K. Chesterton? Charles Poore? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Even the best writers occasionally pen passages of execrable prose. Apparently, a prominent author once made the following observation:

You could compile the worst book in the world entirely out of selected passages from the best writers in the world.

Would you please help me to determine the creator of this insightful remark?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1907 English writer and critic Gilbert K. Chesterton published a column discussing French adventure novelist Alexandre Dumas père in “The Daily News” of London. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Shakespeare and Dickens resemble Dumas, not only in the fact that their bad parts are very bad, but in the fact that their bad parts are very long. When they began talking nonsense they went at it steadily, and there was no doubt about it. You could compile, I should think, the worst book in the world entirely out of selecting passages from the best writers in the world.

Thus, Chesterton’s original statement included the verbose phrase “I should think”.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: The Ideals Which Have Always Shone Before Me and Filled Me With the Joy of Living Are Goodness, Beauty, and Truth

Albert Einstein? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Albert Einstein once spoke about his ideals which apparently included goodness, beauty, and truth. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1930 the journal “Forum and Century” published a philosophical article by Albert Einstein titled “What I Believe”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹¹

To ponder interminably over the reason for one’s own existence or the meaning of life in general seems to me, from an objective point of view, to be sheer folly. And yet everyone holds certain ideals by which he guides his aspiration and his judgment.

The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth. To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Dialogue Origin: “I Could Have Done That” “Ahhh, But You Didn’t!”

Damien Hirst? Christo Javacheff? Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon? William Quinn? Elizabeth Marr Goldman? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Harsh critics of readymade art, installation art, and other forms of modern art assert that the works are trivial. Skeptics also claim that only a miniscule amount of serious effort is required to conceive this type of art. However, artists and sympathetic commentators counter this viewpoint by arguing that substantial original and creative thought is needed to envision a novel artwork. This disagreement is aptly represented via the following concise dialogue:

“I could do that.” “Yeah, but you didn’t.”

Did a famous artist ever deliver this rejoinder? The remark has been attributed to English artist Damien Hirst and Bulgarian artist Christo Javacheff? Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1975 journalist Pete Golismet met with the controversial artist Christo Javacheff who was collaborating with his wife Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon on a spectacular large-scale installation artwork called “Running Fence” in California. Golismet and Christo discussed a previous artwork constructed and sold by Christo. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

A friend of mine likes to interrupt constructive dialogue by asking brightly, “But what does it all mean?” That’s sort of the way I feel about Christo Javacheff’s cross country curtain.

What does it all mean?

Christo once showed me a photo of an old motorcycle he wrapped in rope and plastic sheets, and sold for several thousand dollars.

“But I could have done that,” I said, “Ahhh,” he smiled, “but you didn’t!”

QI believes that Christo Javacheff deserves credit for this response. He was conversing with journalist Pete Golismet. Other artists such as Damien Hirst have made similar responses as shown in the remainder of this article.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Those Big-Shot Writers Could Never Dig the Fact That There Are More Salted Peanuts Consumed Than Caviar

Mickey Spillane? Hy Gardner? Frank Smikel? Apocryphal?

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.

Quote Origin: The Past Is History. The Future Is a Mystery. Today Is a Gift. That’s Why It’s Called the Present

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.