Quote Investigator® – Page 46

Quote Origin: Dear Sir (Or Madam), You May Be Right

H. L. Mencken? Jack Dempsey? Peg Bracken? Bennett Cerf? Alexander Woollcott? Stewart Holbrook? William Safire? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Forceful newspaper columnists often receive opinionated and hostile responses. There is a powerful temptation to send a sharp retort. Yet, one famous journalist typically replied with a brief disarming note:

Dear Sir (or Madam ),
You may be right.

Would you please help me to determine the name of this columnist and locate a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest citation QI has found for this tale appeared in a letter dated November 23, 1942 which was sent from U.S. drama critic Alexander Woollcott to U.S jurist Felix Frankfurter. Woollcott described a tactic he had acquired from prominent journalist H. L. Mencken of Baltimore, Maryland. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

However, I learned from H. L. Mencken a happy formula for answering all controversial letters. He invented one which is final, courteous and can be employed without reading the letter to which it replies. He merely says: “Dear Sir (or Madam): You may be right.”

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order. The 1964 citation further below is particularly intriguing because it provides strong support for this tale.

Quote Origin: I’m Supposed To Write Fantasy Worlds, Not Live In Them

Brandon Sanderson? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: An acclaimed fantasy and science fiction author recently raised an enormous amount of money via a crowdfunding platform. In response to this record-breaking success, the author humorously referred to living in a fantasy world. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: U.S. fantasy author Brandon Sanderson is known for The Stormlight Archive and the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time series. In March 2022 he released a YouTube video indicating that he had been both diligent and stealthy during the two year societal disruption due to covid:¹

The time has come for me to admit the truth. I’ve been lying to you. Over the last two years I’ve acted with extreme irresponsibility because I accidentally wrote an extra novel in secret. I apologize. I couldn’t help myself. We all respond to pressure in different ways.

The video further revealed that he had actually written four full-length novels and a story for children. He planned to self-publish the novels, and he launched a campaign on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform titled “Surprise! Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson”.

The original goal of one million dollars was reached in 35 minutes. Within 24 hours the figure reached 15.4 million dollars. The campaign became the largest in the history of Kickstarter when it exceeded the $20,338,986 milestone. As these words are being written the figure has grown beyond $25 million.

Sanderson released a celebratory video with music and text suggesting that he was overwhelmed with the success. He felt as though he had entered one of his fantasy worlds. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:²

Everyone, I’m supposed to WRITE fantasy worlds
Not live in them.
Your Humble(d) Storyteller,
Brandon

In conclusion, Brandon Sanderson should be credited with the words displayed in his video about his crowdfunding success released March 4, 2022.

Update History: On March 17, 2025 the format of the bibliographical notes was updated.

YouTube video, Title: It’s Time to Come Clean — Brandon Sanderson, Uploaded on March 1, 2022,Uploaded by: Brandon Sanderson, (Quotation appears as text starting at 0 minutes 50 seconds of 16 minutes 32 seconds) (Accessed on youtube.com on March 7, 2022) link ↩︎
YouTube video, Title: Most Funded Kickstarter Ever (2022) by Brandon Sanderson, Uploaded on March 4, 2022,Uploaded by: Brandon Sanderson, (Quotation appears as text starting at 1 minute 29 seconds of 2 minutes 6 seconds) (Accessed on youtube.com on March 7, 2022) link ↩︎

Quote Origin: I Have Seen So Many Extraordinary Things, That There Is Nothing Extraordinary To Me Now

Voltaire? Lewis Carroll? George Sand? François-Marie Arouet? C. L. Dodgson? Aurore Dupin Dudevant? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: The following remark perfectly encapsulates a world-weary perspective:

I have seen so many extraordinary things, nothing seems extraordinary any more.

This expression has been attributed to three people who employed pseudonyms: witty philosopher Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet), fantasy author Lewis Carroll (C. L. Dodgson), and French novelist George Sand (Aurore Dupin Dudevant). Would you please explore the provenance of this remark?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1759 Voltaire published the famous satirical tale “Candide, Ou L’Optimisme” (“Candide, Or The Optimist”). In chapter 21 the characters Candide and Martin engaged in a philosophical discussion about humankind. Candide asked Martin about a story involving monkeys that they had spoken about previously. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

N’êtes-vous pas bien étonné, continua Candide, de l’amour que ces deux filles du pays des Oreillons avaient pour ces deux singes, & dont je vous ai conté l’aventure?

Point du tout, dit Martin, je ne vois pas ce que cette passion a d’étrange; j’ai tant vu de choses extraordinaires, qu’il n’y a plus rien d’extraordinaire.

In 1762 an English translation of Voltaire’s work appeared. The name “Candide” was presented as “Candid” in the following rendering of the passage:²

Are you not surprised, continued Candid, at the love which the two girls in the country of the Oreillons had for those two monkeys?—You know I have told you the story.

Surprised! replied Martin, not in the least; I see nothing strange in this passion. I have seen so many extraordinary things, that there is nothing extraordinary to me now.

QI believes that Voltaire should receive credit for popularizing this remark. This notion is sufficiently common that an earlier semantic match probably exists. The precise phrasing in English of Voltaire’s statement varies because several different translations have been published over the years.

George Sand penned a thematically similar remark, and a detailed citation is given below. The linkage to Lewis Carroll is unsupported. The first attribution to him occurred in the 21st century.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Find the Good and Praise It

Alex Haley? Madison Babcock? William Paton Ker? Charles W. Leadbeater? Jesse Owens? Nathan Rotenstreich? Ovid? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Cynicism and pessimism are commonplace. Yet, an alternative optimistic attitude has been expressed with the following saying:

Find the good and praise it.

This precept has been attributed to bestselling U.S. author Alex Haley and others. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Alex Haley did present this guidance within an article he wrote in 1982, but he did not claim to be its originator.

This general notion is reflected in Ephesians 4:29 of the Bible. Here is the statement in the King James translation. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Here is the version in the New Living Translation:

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

The exact expression can be traced back into the nineteenth century. A match occurred in 1896 within a report published by Madison Babcock who was the Superintendent of Schools in San Francisco, California:²

Don’t label your class “the meanest in school.” If you do, it will strive to live up to the reputation you give it. Be not as some teachers who speak only to snarl at faults. Find the good and praise it, speak sparingly of the bad. None of us desire our wrong deeds oft spoken of; we are always better for the kindly words of our good actions.

QI tentatively credits Madison Babcock with this precise formulation.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: If You Don’t Like Our Weather, Just Wait a Few Minutes

Mark Twain? Will Rogers? Ring Lardner? James A. Cruikshank? T. Morris Longstreth? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Two famous humorists, Mark Twain and Will Rogers, have each received credit for a statement about the variability of weather. Here are four instances:

(1) If you don’t like our weather, wait a minute.

(2) If you don’t like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes.

(3) If you don’t like the Kansas weather today just wait a day and probably tomorrow will suit.

(4) If you don’t like the present brand of Nebraska weather just wait fifteen minutes and there will be a different kind of weather.

Did either Twain or Rogers really employ this expression? Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in “Field and Stream” magazine in January 1909 within an article by James A. Cruikshank who indicated that the saying was circulating in Chicago, Illinois with an anonymous attribution. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

In Chicago—where they have a saying “If you do not like our weather, wait a minute”—it seems to a good many of us that, after waiting several weeks of winter, we like the latest weather less than the earlier.

Researchers have been unable to find this saying in the writings and speeches of Mark Twain. He died in 1910, and the earliest known attribution to him appeared a decade later in 1920. Will Rogers died in 1935, and the saying was ascribed to him in 1940. Based on current evidence, the originator of this remark remains anonymous.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: A Person Might Drown While Attempting To Cross a Stream With an Average Depth of Six Inches

W. I. E. Gates? Edward Latham? Bihar Proverb? Washburn Hopkins? R. H. Halsey? Bolton Hall? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Statistical averages can be misleading. The maximum and minimum values are not specified when only an average is presented. Here are three versions of a pertinent adage:

(1) A person can drown while crossing a stream with an average depth of six inches.

(2) A six foot tall statistician once drowned in a river with an average depth of only two feet.

(3) An ox drowned in a stream whose average depth was only sufficient to cover the hoof.

This saying has been attributed to W. I. E. Gates, but I have been unable to find a solid citation. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared within an 1891 book about proverbs in Bihar, India. The explanation of one proverb referred to a “Kāyath”, a person who worked as clerk, copyist, or calculator. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Once a Kāyath, with his son, was going on a journey. He came to a stream. As he was uncertain of its depth, he proceeded to sound it; and having discovered the depth to be variable, he struck an average. The average depth being what his son could ford, he ordered him, unhesitatingly, to walk through the stream, with the sad consequence that the boy was drowned.

W. I. E. Gates received credit for an instance in 1977, but that was many years after the saying had entered circulation. A detailed citation is given further below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: The Radio Is a Distraction and Keeps You from Concentrating

Nikola Tesla? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: The electrical engineer Nikola Tesla became famous via his inventions in the domains of alternating current and wireless communication. Apparently, he disliked broadcast radio programs. He considered radio to be a nuisance and a distraction which impeded his concentration. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1932 Nikola Tesla celebrated his 76th birthday, and the “New York Herald Tribune” interviewed him in his residence at the Governor Clinton Hotel in New York City. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

This hotel has a radio in every room. But Mr. Tesla’s complaint was not so much a matter of his neighbor’s music as it was a matter of personal taste.

“The radio, I know I’m its father, but I don’t like it,” he said. “I just don’t like it. It’s a nuisance. I never listen to it. The radio is a distraction and keeps you from concentrating. There are too many distractions in this life for quality of thought; and it’s quality of thought, not quantity, that counts.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Origin of a Short Review: “Smile, Smile, Smile” “I Didn’t, I Didn’t, I Didn’t”

Clive Barnes? Richard Bentley? Charles Hayward? John Francis Hope? A. Walkely? Wolcott Gibbs? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: One-line theatrical reviews are simultaneously hilarious and unfairly dismissive. A grumpy critic who saw the Broadway show “Smile, Smile, Smile” responded with “I Didn’t, I Didn’t, I Didn’t”. Another disgruntled critic saw “A Terrible Night” and declared “Quite so”. Would you please explore this topic of short pungent reviews.

Reply from Quote Investigator: Here is a collection of show names followed by terse reviews. Each date corresponds to the year the citation mentioning the review appeared. Some shows and reviews are apocryphal:

1917: A Terrible Night. — Quite so.
1920: Pure As Snow. — It is not as pure as snow.
1921: An Awful Night. — Quite so.
1921: What a Night! — Exactly.
1933: A Moral Crime. — It was!
1959: Dreadful Night. — Precisely!
1959: Oh, Yes! — Oh, No!
1965: Wham! — Ouch!
1973: Smile, Smile, Smile. — I Didn’t, I Didn’t, I Didn’t.
1979: The Cupboard. — Bare.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order. The discussion begins with compact reviews of a poem and a book.

Quote Origin: Celebrity Is the Chastisement of Merit and the Punishment of Talent

Nicolas Chamfort? Emily Dickinson? Franz Liszt? Garrison Keillor? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: The dark side of celebrity is now widely recognized. Celebrity worship encourages self-absorption, arrogance, and callousness while celebrity hatred causes denouncements, calumnies, and physical endangerment. The following saying has been attributed to the eighteenth century French epigrammatist Nicolas Chamfort and the nineteenth century poet Emily Dickinson. Here are two versions:

(1) Celebrity is the chastisement of merit and the punishment of talent.
(2) Celebrity is the reproof of merit and the punishment of genius.

Would you please help me to determine the author and find a citation.

Reply from Quote Investigator: Nicolas Chamfort died in 1794. A collection of his writings appeared in 1796 under the title “Maximes, Pensées, Caractères et Anecdotes” (“Maxims, Thoughts, Characters and Anecdotes”). The adage appeared in a section titled “Pensées Morales” (“Moral Thoughts”). Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

La célébrité est le châtiment du mérite & la punition du talent. Le mien, quelqu’il soit, ne me paraît qu’un délateur, né pour troubler mon repos. J’éprouve, en le détruisant, la joie de triompher d’un ennemi. Le sentiment a triomphé chez moi de l’amour-propre même, & la vanité littéraire a péri dans la destruction de l’intérêt que je prenais aux hommes.

Here is one possible translation:

Celebrity is the chastisement of merit and the punishment of talent. Mine, whatever it is, seems to me only an informer, born to disturb my rest. I experience, in destroying it, the joy of triumphing over an enemy. My sensibility has triumphed over my self-love, and literary vanity has perished in the destruction of my preoccupation with men.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Origin of a Review: Show Title: “Wham!”; Review: “Ouch!”

Wolcott Gibbs? Alexander Woollcott? Else Rempel? Thomas Vinciguerra? Guinness Book of World Records? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: I love stories about funny theatrical reviews. A prominent critic once attended a performance of a show called “Wham!” and published the amusingly concise evaluation “Ouch!”

This pithy critique has been attributed to Wolcott Gibbs and Alexander Woollcott who both wrote for “The New Yorker” magazine. Yet, I suspect that this anecdote is fictitious. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) provides no matches for “Wham!” which reduces the credibility of the tale. Alexander Woollcott died in 1943, and Wolcott Gibbs died in 1958.

The earliest match found by QI appeared in “The Edmonton Journal” of Alberta, Canada in 1965 within a column titled “Else Rempel’s Edmonton Notebook” which printed the following short item. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

For What It’s Worth
The shortest criticism in theatrical history was made by drama critic Wolcott Gibbs when he reviewed a farce called Wham!
Gibbs’ only comment was “Ouch!”

This anecdote was doubted by journalist Thomas Vinciguerra who was knowledgeable on this topic. He compiled and published the collection “Backward Ran Sentences: The Best of Wolcott Gibbs from The New Yorker”. Vinciguerra said the following about Gibbs during an interview in 2011:²

I first heard of him at age twelve, when I came across him in “The Guinness Book of World Records.” The editors said that the world’s shortest piece of criticism had been “attributed” to him. Supposedly, in reviewing a farce called “Wham!” Gibbs wrote the single-word response “Ouch!” I thought the comment was hilarious, and that Gibbs’s name sounded owlish and prickly—both of which, I later discovered, he was. It didn’t even matter that the review turned out to be apocryphal.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.