Quote Investigator® – Page 39

Quote Origin: To My Mind, There Could Be No Greater Character To Play Than Othello

Paul Robeson? William Shakespeare? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent actor once discussed William Shakespeare’s tragic character Othello and said the following:

There could be no greater character to play.

This statement has been attributed to Paul Robeson. Would you please explore this topic.

Reply from Quote Investigator: Paul Robeson played the character Othello in London in 1930. He also performed the character on Broadway in 1943 and 1944. Othello became Robeson’s best-known role.

The American Archive of Public Broadcasting contains a video of the April 9, 1998 episode of “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer”. The episode included a segment from an interview with Paul Robeson conducted in 1959. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

PAUL ROBESON: Shakespeare posed this problem of a say black man in a white society in the role that he’s playing. And Shakespeare gave Othello such dignity—he came not from—as he said—not from hate but from honor, from a sense of his own human dignity. And to me, to my mind, there could be no greater character to play.

Below is one additional selected citation.

Quote Origin: Inspiration Is for Amateurs—The Rest of Us Just Show Up and Get To Work

Chuck Close? Stephen King? Philip Roth? Harvey Mackay? Mark Twain? Charles Schulz? Rosalyn Drexler? John Barkham? Nocona Burgess? Jill Elaine Hughes?

Question for Quote Investigator: An artist must wait patiently for inspiration to occur according to a romanticized depiction of creativity. Yet, a successful professional artist offered the following contrary viewpoint:

Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.

This notion has been attributed to acclaimed photorealist painter Chuck Close, popular horror writer Stephen King, Noble Prize-winning author Philip Roth, motivational columnist Harvey Mackay, and others. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In April 2006 Chuck Close was interviewed by fellow artist Joe Fig. The interview appeared in the 2009 book “Inside the Painter’s Studio”. The text below consists of a question posed by Fig followed by a reply from Close. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Do you have a motto or creed that as an artist you live by?

Inspiration is for amateurs—the rest of us just show up and get to work. And the belief that things will grow out of the activity itself and that you will—through work—bump into other possibilities and kick open other doors that you would never have dreamt of if you were just sitting around looking for a great “art idea.”

Interestingly, a character in a novel by Philip Roth employed a version of this saying while crediting Chuck Close. Also, Stephen King used a version while crediting Roth. Thus, the confusion about attribution is understandable. Details are presented further below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Nothing Is Ever Really Lost To Us As Long As We Remember It

Lucy Maud Montgomery? Adelaide Anne Procter? Walt Whitman? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: The popular Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery is best known for the children’s novel “Anne of Green Gables”. Apparently, she once made a powerful statement about transience, mortality, and memory:

Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.

Numerous webpages claim that this quotation appeared in Montgomery’s 1911 novel “The Story Girl”, but I have carefully searched that novel, and the quotation is absent. Would you please help to find a correct citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The quotation did not appear in “The Story Girl”; however, it did appear in the 1913 sequel by Lucy Maud Montgomery titled “The Golden Road”. Both works featured a character named Sara Stanley who was referred to as the Story Girl. The quotation was spoken by her father who was discussing Sara’s departed mother. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

“She was as slim and lithe as a young, white-stemmed birch tree. How I loved her! How happy we were! But he who accepts human love must bind it to his soul with pain, and she is not lost to me. Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Imagination Is a Good Servant, But a Bad Master

Agatha Christie? Hercule Poirot? John Jortin? Maria Edgeworth? ‎Richard Lovell? Letitia Elizabeth Landon? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Creativity and inventiveness are wonderful attributes, but an overly imaginative person is prone to self-deception. Here is a cogent adage:

Imagination is a good servant, but a bad master.

This saying as been attributed to the famous English mystery author Agatha Christie. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Agatha Christie published “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” in 1920. The main character, detective Hercule Poirot, used the expression while conversing with a friend who had made an incorrect deduction. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

“I must confess that the conclusions I drew from those few scribbled words were quite erroneous.”

He smiled.

“You gave too much rein to your imagination. Imagination is a good servant, and a bad master. The simplest explanation is always the most likely.”

Interestingly, Agatha Christie did not craft this adage. It has been circulating for a few hundred years.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: I Require Only Three Things of a Man. He Must Be Handsome, Ruthless, and Stupid

Dorothy Parker? John Keats? Richard L. Jenkins? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent witty woman once described three qualities she desired in a man. He must be handsome, ruthless, and stupid. This viewpoint has been ascribed to poet and critic Dorothy Parker. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Dorothy Parker died in 1967. The earliest match for this expression known to QI appeared in the 1970 biography “You Might as Well Live: The Life and Times of Dorothy Parker” by John Keats. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

She decided to give life another chance. “Into love and out again/Thus I went and thus I go,” she said, and so it was with her. She would give love another chance, too, but this time on her own terms.

“I require only three things of a man,” she said. “He must be handsome, ruthless, and stupid.”

The first quotation above concerning love is from the eight-line poem “Theory” which appeared in Parker’s 1928 collection “Sunset Gun”.²

The second quotation about Parker’s three requirements has not been antedated, and John Keats did not provide a citation. Nevertheless, researchers find the attribution credible.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: She is Happy, For She Knows That Her Dust Is Very Pretty

Dorothy Parker? Franklin Pierce Adams? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: The notable wit Dorothy Parker constructed several epitaphs. I am interested in the following:

She is happy, for she knows
That her dust is very pretty.

This topic is confusing because I’ve also seen a different version of these lines:

She is happy, for she knows
That her dust is very charming.

Did Parker craft either of these? Does either appear on her headstone?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has examined several other epitaphs that have been attributed to Dorothy Parker. Here is a link to a webpage with pointers to the separate analyses.

Dorothy Parker died in 1967. Her last will and testament did not specify where she wished her remains to rest. Her parents and grandparents were buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. In 2021 living family members in conjunction with fans and supporters agreed to place Parker’s ashes in Woodlawn Cemetery and to install a headstone. The marker was inscribed with her name, her birth year, her death year, and an epigraph.¹

The four line verse on the monument was selected by Parker’s relatives and supporters. The words originally appeared as the final stanza of Parker’s poem “Epitaph for a Darling Lady” which was published in her 1926 collection “Enough Rope”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:²

Epitaph for a Darling Lady

All her hours were yellow sands,
Blown in foolish whorls and tassels
Slipping warmly through her hands;
Patted into little castles.

Shiny day on shiny day
Tumble in a rainbow clutter,
As she flipped them all away.
Sent them spinning down the gutter.

Leave for her a red young rose.
Go your way, and save your pity;
She is happy, for she knows
That her dust is very pretty.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Nothing Is More Impotent Than an Unread Library

John Waters? Austin Kleon? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Building a library is an enjoyable lifelong pursuit. Intellectually engaged people are often bibliomaniacs. Yet, many acquired volumes are never read. This behavior has been condemned and praised in two radically different statements that differ by a single word:

(1) Nothing is more impotent than an unread library.
(2) Nothing is more important than an unread library.

Remarkably, both of these comments have been attributed to the transgressive filmmaker John Waters. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 2010 John Waters published “Role Models” which contained the following passage. Boldface added to excepts by QI:¹

Being rich is not about how much money you have or how many homes you own; it’s the freedom to buy any book you want without looking at the price and wondering if you can afford it. Of course, you have to read the books, too. Nothing is more impotent than an unread library.

John Waters did not employ the variant statement with the word “important”. It was mistakenly credited to Waters in a 2012 book mentioned further below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Whoever Controls the Media, Controls the Mind

Jim Morrison? Andrew Doe? John Tobler? Francis E. Walter? Philip F. Pocock? E. S. James? Frank Lisciandro? Apocryphal

Question for Quote Investigator: The activities of rock-n-roll star Jim Morrison received extensive newspaper and television coverage in the 1960s. He was alternately praised and condemned in the mass media. Apparently, he once stated:

Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.

Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Jim Morrison was the charismatic lead vocalist of the band “The Doors”. The music journalists Andrew Doe and John Tobler published a compilation of quotations from band members titled “In Their Own Words: The Doors” in 1988. The authors credited Morrison with the quotation under examination. The concise label “Jim” preceded the quotation. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Jim “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” (1969)

Morrison died in 1971. Doe and Tobler did not provide a precise citation to support the date of 1969. QI believes that the attribution is plausible, but QI has not yet located direct evidence in 1969.

Interestingly, Morrison was not the first to express this notion using the same keywords “control”, “media”, and “mind”. U.S. Congressman Francis E. Walter of Pennsylvania, Chair of the House Un-American Activities Committee used an instance during a speech in July 1956 as reported in “The Tablet: A Catholic Weekly” of Brooklyn, New York:²

“The Communists know that movie screens and television channels are weapons of far greater potential power than any of the nuclear devices whose secrets we guard so jealously.

“Control of the media of communication and information means the control of the mind, and for the Communists this would mean a victory of far greater importance than victory on a dozen battlefields of war.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: That’s All Any of Us Are: Amateurs. We Don’t Live Long Enough To Be Anything Else

Charlie Chaplin? Nigel Bruce? Claire Bloom? Austin Kleon? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Before performing a new show or displaying a novel artwork it is natural to feel fear. Perhaps the audience will condemn you as an amateur. A famous comic actor crafted a brilliant remark about amateurism. It went something like this: Everyone is an amateur because life is not long enough to become anything else.

Charlie Chaplin has received credit for this insight. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Charlie Chaplin created the story and screenplay of the 1952 movie “Limelight”. He played the starring role of a fading comedian named Calvero. An impresario decided to produce a gala benefit to honor Calvero. Many popular entertainers agreed to appear in the show. The following dialog between Calvero and the promoter occurred in the dressing room before the event. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Postant (Nigel Bruce): Every star in the business is appearing.
Calvero (Charles Chaplin): It’ll be something following all this talent.
Postant (Nigel Bruce): Don’t you worry. Tonight you’re gonna make them all look like a bunch of amateurs.
Calvero (Charles Chaplin): That’s all any of us are: amateurs. We don’t live long enough to be anything else.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Maxim Origin: The Medium Is the Message

Marshall McLuhan? Ashley Montagu? Edmund Carpenter? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Canadian communications theorist Marshall McLuhan contemplated the influences of different types of media on human thought and behavior. He said that television was a cool medium because it was high in participation, whereas radio was a hot medium with low participation. He formulated the adage:

The medium is the message.

Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match known to QI appeared in a conference titled “Radio in the Future of Canada” held in Vancouver, Canada in May 1958. Marshall McLuhan’s speech contained two versions of the saying. The first instance used the plural words “media” and “messages”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

The media are the messages, they are not conveyor belts of messages. In the long run it is radio that is the message, and not what a radio program content happens to be at any given day, or year. In the long run, it is photography that is the meaning and the message, not the picture of somebody or something.

The second instance of the saying in McLuhan’s’ speech matched the popular version of the expression:

Print, by permitting people to read at high speed and, above all, to read alone and silently, developed a totally new set of mental operations. What I mentioned earlier becomes very relevant here: the medium is the message. The medium of print is the message, more than any individual writer could say.

Thanks to Andrew McLuhan, the grandson of Marshall McLuhan, who told QI about the citation presented above.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.