Quote Investigator® – Page 43

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.

Quote Origin: If I Ever Find Myself in Heaven, It Will Be From Backing Away From Hell

Carrie Fisher? Courtney Love? Edward Dowling? Mariette Hartley? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Terrible experiences often cause an individual to seek a superior pathway through life. Here is a pertinent adage:

Some of us can’t find heaven without backing away from hell.

This saying has been attributed to actress and writer Carrie Fisher and to singer and actress Courtney Love. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Priest Edward Dowling was an advisor to Bill W. (William Griffith Wilson) who was the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Dowling delivered the following advice that was recorded in a chapter of the 1957 book “Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age: A Brief History of A.A.”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

I doubt if there is anybody in this hall who really ever sought sobriety. I think we were trying to get away from drunkenness. I don’t think we should despise the negative. I have a feeling that if I ever find myself in Heaven, it will be from backing away from Hell.

QI believes that Edward Dowling is the leading candidate for creator of this saying.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: There Are Only Nine Meals Between Mankind and Anarchy

Alfred Henry Lewis? Larry Niven? Jerry Pournelle? Eric Sevareid? George Allan England? Donald Lowrie? John J. Fitzgerald? Hiram Motherwell? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: When the food supplies of a society are disrupted it takes only a few days before extreme behaviors emerge, e.g., chaos, mayhem, and rebellion. An adage states that:

There are only a small number of meals between humanity and anarchy.

Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: This saying is difficult to trace because it can be expressed in many ways. Here is an overview showing selected examples with dates and ascriptions:

1896: The only barrier between us and anarchy is the last nine meals we’ve had. (Alfred Henry Lewis)
1906: There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy. (Alfred Henry Lewis)
1911: Only nine meals stood between civilization and anarchy. (Anonymous)
1916: Only about seven meals stand between a man and anarchy. (Anonymous)
1932: We are never more than nine meals away from anarchy. (John J. Fitzgerald)
1942: There are only nine meals between man and revolution. (Anonymous)
1946: No one is more than nine meals away from murder. (Theo. G. Lurman Jr.)
1947: Every man is only nine meals away from Communism. (Leland L. Sage)
1974: No man was ever more than about nine meals away from crime or suicide. (Eric Sevareid)
1977: No country is more than three meals away from a revolution. (Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle)
1980: You’re only nine meals away from being a criminal. (Anonymous prison inmate)
1980: Each of us is only nine meals away from stealing. (Robert L. Eddy)

Below are the details for these citations.

Quote Origin: One Half of What I Have Told You May Be Proved Untrue. Unfortunately, I Cannot Tell You Which Half

Charles Sidney Burwell? Charles F. Kettering? Helen Clapesattle? Carl Sandburg? Camille Pierre Dadant? Josh Billings? William Osler? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator Educators and researchers know that knowledge in fields like science and medicine is continuously growing and changing. Thus, today’s verities become tomorrow’s fallacies. A lecturer once candidly admitted these weaknesses by saying something like the following:

Half of what we are teaching you is wrong. Unfortunately, we don’t know which half.

This humble message has been attributed to Charles Sidney Burwell who was Dean of the Harvard Medical School, Charles F. Kettering who was the head of research at General Motors Corporation, and Carl Sandburg who was a poet and historian. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: This is a difficult saying to trace because it can be expressed in many ways. The earliest match located by QI appeared in a talk delivered at an agricultural conference in 1917 by Camille Pierre Dadant who was the editor of “American Bee Journal”. Dadant spoke about bees and horticulture while acknowledging the limitations of contemporary scientific insights:¹

It is quite probable that half of what I am going to tell you to-day ain’t so, but I don’t know which half. It will be for you to find out. [Laughter.]

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.