Quote Investigator® – Page 40

Quote Origin: There Are Old Pilots, and There Are Bold Pilots, But There Are No Old, Bold Pilots

Dorothy Verrill? Charles L. Wright? Harry D. Copland? Harry Copewell? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: The adjective “bold” has positive connotations. Yet, some difficult and dangerous professions do not countenance the inherent riskiness of bold actions. Here is the template of a pertinent adage:

There are old X, and there are bold X, but there are no old bold X.

This saying has been applied to race car drivers, mushroom hunters, airplane pilots, stock traders, and others. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest instance in this family of expressions located by QI appeared in “Safety Education: A Magazine of the Good Adventure” in May 1931. Airplane pilot Dorothy Verrill wrote about her experiences learning to fly. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

“There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots” said my instructor, one day, after we had come down from practising landings, “and it’s not a good idea to make a climbing turn at low altitude right after the take-off, as you did just now. It may be pretty flying, and it may be exciting—give you a thrill—but it’s not safe, especially for a student.”

Dorothy Verrill ascribed the saying to her flight instructor. QI examined articles in “The Hartford Courant” of Connecticut² and “The Kansas City Star” of Missouri³ which identified Lieutenant Charles L. Wright of the L & H Aircraft Corporation as Verrill’s instructor. Thus, Wright is currently one of the leading candidates for creator of this expression.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: The World Is in Greater Peril from Those Who Tolerate or Encourage Evil Than from Those Who Actually Commit It

Albert Einstein? Pablo Casals? Josep Maria Corredor? Paul S. Reichler? Robert I. Fitzhenry? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: A family of sayings about the unwise toleration of evil has been attributed to the famous scientist Albert Einstein. Here are five examples:

(1) The world is in greater peril from those who tolerate or encourage evil than from those who actually commit it.

(2) The world is too dangerous to live in, not because of people’s evil deeds but because of those who sit and let it happen.

(3) The world is a dangerous place not because there are so many evil people in it, but because there are so many good ones willing to sit back and let evil happen.

(4) The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm. It’s dangerous because of those who watch and do nothing.

(5) The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.

I am skeptical of these ascriptions because there are so may variants, and I have never seen a solid citation for any of these statements. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1955 Josep Maria Corredor published a book in French about the prominent Spanish cellist Pablo Casals titled “Conversations avec Pablo Casals: souvenirs et opinions d’un musicien”. The book employed an interview format to present commentary from Casals on a variety of topics. In addition, Corredor gathered and printed opinions about Casals from several well-known individuals including Albert Einstein.

Editions of this popular book were issued in other languages. In 1956 an English translation by André Mangeot was published as “Conversations with Casals”. The section containing opinions about Casals began with the following assertion:

We would like to take this opportunity of expressing our gratitude for the opinions reproduced below, which were sent direct by the people concerned.

Thus, the remark from Albert Einstein was based on a note sent from Einstein to the creator of the book. The original German text of the note appears further below. Here is the English rendition. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Albert Einstein: It is certainly unnecessary to await my voice in acclaiming Pablo Casals as a very great artist, since all who are qualified to speak are unanimous on this subject. What I particularly admire in him is the firm stand he has taken, not only against the oppressors of his countrymen, but also against those opportunists who are always ready to compromise with the Devil. He perceives very clearly that the world is in greater peril from those who tolerate or encourage evil than from those who actually commit it.

QI conjectures that the variant quotations listed at the beginning of this article were derived from Einstein’s statement in the book about Casals. Yet, it remains possible that Einstein made a separate statement in this family which QI has not yet discovered.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Love Is a Thing That Can Never Go Wrong; And I Am Marie of Romania

Dorothy Parker? Franklin Pierce Adams? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: The famous wit Dorothy Parker once penned an entertaining poem which rhymed “Romania” and “extemporanea”. Would you please help me to find a citation for this poem?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1926 Dorothy Parker published the poetry collection “Enough Rope”. The rhyme was contained in a four-line verse titled “Comment”. Parker spelled “Romania” as “Roumania”:¹

Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Roumania.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Home Is the Nicest Word There Is

Laura Ingalls Wilder? Melissa Gilbert? Michael Landon? John Hawkins? William Putman? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: A comfortable and welcoming home is one of life’s greatest boons. The following remark resonates with people who have an enjoyable domestic life:

Home is the nicest word there is.

This statement is usually attributed to U.S. writer Laura Ingalls Wilder who is best known for the “Little House” series of children’s books. However, I have been unable to find this quotation in her oeuvre. Thus, I suspect the phrase has been misattributed. Would you please explore the provenance of this expression?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Researchers have been unable to find this statement in the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder, but the confusion about the source is understandable because the phrase occurred in an episode of the popular television series “Little House on the Prairie” which was based on Wilder’s books.

The series ran between 1974 and 1983. The first episode after the pilot was titled “A Harvest of Friends”. The character Laura Ingalls played by Melissa Gilbert was the narrator. Laura conversed with her father Charles Ingalls played by Michael Landon while sitting in her bedroom in the newly built family home. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Laura: And I’ve decided something.
Charles: What’s that, Half-Pint?
Laura: Home is the nicest word there is.
Charles: One of the nicest, that’s for sure.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) specifies John Hawkins and William Putman as creators of the episode teleplay. Hence, this duo probably deserves credit for the dialog.²

Laura Ingalls Wilder did employ a pre-existing proverb that extolled the value of homes within one of her books. Details are given below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: I Do Not Paint a Portrait To Look Like the Subject. Rather Does the Person Grow To Look Like His Portrait

Salvador Dali? Pablo Picasso? Gertrude Stein? Alice B. Toklas? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: A self-assured painter once suggested that one should never deliberately create a portrait to look precisely like its subject. Instead, the brilliance of the artwork would cause the subject to grow to look like the portrait over time. Would you please help me to determine the identity of this painter and to locate a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1943 the Knoedler Galleries of New York presented an exhibition of portraits by the prominent Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. While commenting about the event Dalí expressed a viewpoint similar to the one above. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

“My aim,” says Dali of these likenesses of wealthy heiresses and glamor women of the international set, “was to establish a rapport of fatality between each of the different personalities and their backgrounds. I do not paint a portrait to look like the subject. Rather does the person grow to look like his portrait.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Everybody Says That She Does Not Look Like It, But That Does Not Make Any Difference. She Will

Pablo Picasso? Gertrude Stein? Alice B. Toklas? Salvador Dali? Glenn Ligon? Arianna Huffington? David Mamet? Clifford Gessler? Michael Schulman? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Depictions of people in paintings, photographs, books, and movies can dramatically change cultural perceptions. Powerful images cause accuracy to be superseded, and stylized portrayals to become reified.

Near the beginning of the twentieth century the famous Spanish artist Pablo Picasso painted a portrait of the prominent writer and art collector Gertrude Stein. Several viewers of the artwork complained that the image was inaccurate. Picasso confidently and astutely replied with a remark similar to this:

It may not look like Gertrude Stein now, but it will.

Is this anecdote correct? Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1933 Gertrude Stein published “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas”. Stein wrote the book using the viewpoint and voice of her friend and life partner Toklas. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

After a little while I murmured to Picasso that I liked his portrait of Gertrude Stein. Yes, he said, everybody says that she does not look like it but that does not make any difference, she will, he said.

Creating the portrait was a slow process for Picasso; he painted it during several months in 1905 and 1906. Toklas arrived in Paris in 1907, and Picasso spoke the line while visiting with Toklas and others in Stein’s art-filled home in Paris.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: A Dictionary Is The Only Place Where Divorce Comes Before Marriage

Evan Esar? Jacob M. Braude? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: You have already explored a quip about success and work that cleverly referred to their alphabetical order. I’ve seen a similar joke about divorce and marriage:

The dictionary is the only place where divorce comes before marriage.

Which of these two jests emerged first? Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest instance of the divorce quip known to QI appeared in “The Yonkers Statesman” in April 1902. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Patience: “Polly has found something wrong with the dictionary.”
Patrice: “Indeed! What is it?”
“She’s discovered that divorce comes before marriage.”

This joke was reprinted in several other newspapers in May 1902 such as “The Daily Morning Journal and Courier” of New Haven, Connecticut² and “The Times-Democrat” of New Orleans, Louisiana.³ Both of these papers acknowledged “The Yonkers Statesman”.

Quote Origin: His Mother Should Have Thrown Him Away and Kept the Stork

Mae West? Jack Wagner? Joe E. Lewis? Charley Weaver? Cliff Arquette? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: The Hollywood screen siren Mae West once verbally lacerated the villain of a movie by saying that when he was born his mother should have kept the stork and disposed of him. Would you please help me to determine the name of the movie?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Mae West starred in the 1934 film “Belle of the Nineties”. The reviewer in the “New York Herald Tribune” was impressed by West’s comical line about the antagonist. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

I can recommend to you Miss West’s characterization of her villain, who was, it seems, so worthless that when he was born “his mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.”

Mae West received credit as the primary writer of the film, and Jack Wagner received credit for additional dialogue. Hence, QI is not completely sure who created the line. Mae West certainly deserved credit for popularizing the insult; however, a form of the joke was already in circulation as indicated below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Other People’s Interruptions of Your Work Are Relatively Insignificant Compared With the Countless Times You Interrupt Yourself

Brendan Francis? Edward F. Murphy? Jonathon Green? Sherwin D. Smith? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: I came across the following quotation in the 1978 reference “The Crown Treasury of Relevant Quotations” compiled by Edward F. Murphy:¹

A quotation in a speech, article or book is like a rifle in the hands of an infantryman. It speaks with authority.

The reference credited Brendan Francis, but I have been unable to discover anything about Francis. Does he really exist? I suspect that the name is a pseudonym. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Your suspicions are justified. “The Crown Treasury of Relevant Quotations” included more than sixty entries ascribed to Brendan Francis. In 1999 researcher Thomas Fuller attempted to learn more about Francis and concluded that Francis was actually a pseudonym for Edward F. Murphy who compiled the book. QI agrees with this hypothesis. Evidence is presented further below.

Here is a sampling of six statements in Murphy’s book ascribed to Brendan Francis:²

Other people’s interruptions of your work are relatively insignificant compared with the countless times you interrupt yourself.

Many a patient, after countless sessions, has quit therapy, because he could detect no perceptible improvement in his shrink’s condition.

Some persons are very decisive when it comes to avoiding decisions.

Most people perform essentially meaningless work. When they retire, that truth is borne in upon them.

Rights are something other people grant you after you’ve fought tooth-and-nail for them.

What an author likes to write most is his signature on the back of a check.

Murphy was a mathematics teacher in Manhattan.³ He published groups of quotations in periodicals such as “The New York Times”⁴ and “Sports Illustrated”.⁵

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Be Moderate In Everything Including Moderation

Mark Twain? Oscar Wilde? Socrates? Nancy Weber? Judy Tillinger? Horace Porter? J. F. Carter? Gaius Petronius Arbiter? James Ogilvy? Thomas Paine? Voltaire? Richard A. Posner? Benjamin Franklin? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: The ancient Greek poet Hesiod stated:¹

Observe due measure; moderation is best in all things.

An extended version of this statement has been attributed to many famous people including Socrates, Oscar Wilde, Benjamin Franklin, Voltaire, and Mark Twain. Here are two versions:

(1) All things in moderation, including moderation.
(2) Be moderate in everything, including moderation.

I am skeptical about all these ascriptions for the extended statement. Would you please explore this topic, and help me to find solid citations?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has found no substantive support for attributing this extended statement to any of the five people listed above. It is difficult to trace.

A collection based on ancient Greek poetry titled “Pagan Pictures” contained a pertinent four line verse called “Moderation”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:²

Nothing too much, doth Chilo say?
Be moderate despite temptation?
Aye; moderate in every way
Be moderate in moderation.

The biographical notes for “Pagan Pictures” stated that the material was based on the Planudean anthology, the Palatine anthology, and epigrams transcribed from ancient monuments. “Pagan Pictures” was published in 1927, and the collection did not specify an author or provide a precise citation for the verse “Moderation”. Thus, its provenance and date remain uncertain.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.