Mark Twain? Albert Bigelow Paine? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There are a set of statements attributed to the famous humorist Mark Twain about allowable behaviors in heaven: Did Twain really make any of these remarks? Reply from Quote Investigator: After Mark Twain’s death in 1910 Albert Bigelow Paine who was his friend became his …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: If I Cannot Swear in Heaven I Shall Not Stay There”
Mark Twain? Madame de Sévigné? Madame Roland? Alphonse de Lamartine? Alphonse Toussenel? Louise de la Rameé? Alfred D’Orsay? Thomas Carlyle? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular expression combines disappointment with humanity together with praise for canines. Here are four versions: These words have been attributed to Mark Twain and Alphonse Toussenel. Would you please …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The More I Know About People, the Better I Like Dogs”
Mark Twain? Frank Nelson Doubleday? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Mark Twain apparently held a very low opinion of book publishers. He suggested that publishers could be created via a multigenerational combination of individuals from lunatic asylums. Could you please help me find a citation for this sentiment? Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1897 Frank …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Recipe To Create a Publisher: Take an Idiot Man from a Lunatic Asylum . . .”
Mark Twain? Hugh Elmer Brown? Joseph Fort Newton? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following quotation is often attributed to Mark Twain, but I do not know whether it is accurate: It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand. Would you …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Some People Are Troubled by the Things in the Bible They Can’t Understand. The Things That Trouble Me Are the Things I Can Understand”
Mark Twain? Robert Heinlein? Paul Dickson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Teaching a pig to sing is a futile task that aggravates the porcine student according to a popular saying. Luminary Mark Twain and science fiction author Robert Heinlein have received credit for this adage. Would you please determine the accurate ascription and the original …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Never Attempt To Teach a Pig To Sing; It Wastes Your Time and Annoys the Pig”
George Bernard Shaw? Mark Twain? Abraham Lincoln? Cyrus Stuart Ching? J. Frank Condon? Richard P. Calhoon? N. H. Eagle? Cale Yarborough? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular metaphorical adage warns individuals not to engage with disreputable critics. Here are two versions: This saying has been credited to a triumvirate of quotation superstars: Mark Twain, …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Never Wrestle with a Pig. You Both Get Dirty and the Pig Likes It”
Mark Twain? Andrew Carnegie? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Proverbial wisdom tells us never to put all our eggs in one basket, but an inversion of that advice has been ascribed to the renowned humorist Mark Twain and the business titan Andrew Carnegie. Who should receive credit? Reply from Quote Investigator: On June 23, 1885 …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Put All Your Eggs in One Basket, and Then Watch That Basket”
Prophet: Harriet Martineau? William Tweed? John Tyndall? Auguste Comte? Robert G. Ingersoll? Karl Marx? Charles Darwin? Herbert Spencer? Henry George Atkinson? Paul Dirac? Felix Adler? Critic: Mark Twain? Douglas William Jerrold? George Grote? J. P. Jacobsen? Isaac M. Wise? Wolfgang Pauli? Question for Quote Investigator: The prominent physicist Paul Dirac was hostile toward religion, and …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: There Is No God, and Harriet Martineau Is His Prophet”
Praise for “Hemingway Didn’t Say That”: Wall Street Journal: Wonderful review of “Hemingway Didn’t Say That” appeared in “The Wall Street Journal” on April 10. The reviewer was top quotation expert Fred R. Shapiro editor of “The Yale Book of Quotations”. New York Times: Great article about “Hemingway Didn’t Say That” and the Quote Investigator …
Continue reading “Learn About My Book!”
Mark Twain? Merle Johnson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I would like to use the following adage during a presentation to a large group: It is wiser to find out than to suppose. I plan to credit Mark Twain, but I know that if I am wrong it will be very embarrassing because the entire …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: It Is Wiser To Find Out Than To Suppose”