Quote Investigator® – Page 82

Dialogue Origin: “I Am My Own Worst Enemy” “Not While I’m Alive”

Groucho Marx? Ernest Bevin? George S. Kaufman? Cotton Ed Smith? Franklin P. Adams? Alan Hale? Walter F. George? Oscar Levant?

Question for Quote Investigator: A comment which acknowledges criticism has been coupled with a harshly comical riposte. Here are three examples:

“I’m my own worst enemy. ” “Not while I’m in the room.”
“She is her own worst enemy.” “Not while I am around.”
“He is his own greatest enemy” “Not while I’m alive, he ain’t.”

Would you please explore the provenance of this type of exchange?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest instance of this schema located by QI appeared in a 1933 article by Franklin P. Adams in the “New York Herald Tribune”. Adams was reviewing a book filled with abbreviations, informal language, and flexible spelling; hence, he decided to retain that style in his analysis. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

. . . only the other night when I said I am my own worst enemy 4 fellows rushed in to say loyaly not while they was alive.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: The Surest Way to Make a Monkey of a Man Is to Quote Him

Robert Benchley? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: When you hear your own words from the past recited to you as a quotation the result is sometimes profound embarrassment. The humorist Robert Benchley apparently said that you could make a monkey out of a person by simply employing their own quotations. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1934 Robert Benchley’s syndicated newspaper column discussed this notion. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

The surest way to make a monkey of a man is to quote him. That remark in itself wouldn’t make any sense if quoted as it stands.

The average man ought to be allowed a quotation of no less than three sentences, one to make his statement and two to explain what he meant.

Benchley listed the following short remark to illustrate his thesis of simian transformation:

“Life does not come all in one piece like cheese; it more resembles linked sausages, a series of events on a string.”—Harold Bell Wright.

Benchley also gave this as an example of an eccentric isolated statement:

“When you come right down to it, perhaps there are other things in life besides sex.”—Professor R. P. Sears.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: May the Sun in His Course Visit No Land More Free, More Happy, More Lovely, Than This Our Own Country

Daniel Webster? Herbert Hoover? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Extraordinary care should be taken whenever one plans to etch a quotation into a granite monument. That is why I am asking you about the accuracy of the following patriotic statement attributed to U.S. statesman and orator Daniel Webster:

May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country.

The proposed monument will be shaped like a sundial and will honor veterans. Would you please help check the veracity of Webster’s words?

Reply from Quote Investigator: On February 22, 1832, a celebration dinner was held for the centennial anniversary of the birth of U.S. Founding Father George Washington. Festivities were held in the city named after the famous first president, and Daniel Webster delivered the main oration. He hoped that the U.S. experiment in democratic self-governance would continue to thrive, and at the end of the speech he audaciously speculated about another commemoration by “disciples of Washington” that might occur one hundred years into the distant future. The optimistic address finished with a toast. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

. . . so surely may they see, as we now see, the flag of the Union floating on the top of the Capitol; and then, as now, may the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own Country.
Gentlemen, I propose—
“THE MEMORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON.”

The text above was from a contemporaneous newspaper account published in the “Newbern Spectator” of New Bern, North Carolina on March 18, 1932. The same text also appeared in an 1832 book that recorded “Speeches and Other Proceedings at The Public Dinner in Honor of The Centennial Anniversary of Washington”.²

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Everything I’ve Ever Said Will Be Credited To Dorothy Parker

George S. Kaufman? Scott Meredith? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Bright remarks are often misattributed to famously witty individuals such as Dorothy Parker. An exasperated fellow humorist once said:

Everything I’ve ever said will be credited to Dorothy Parker.

Would you please help me to locate a citation and tell me who said this?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest close match known to QI occurred in a 1974 biography titled “George S. Kaufman and His Friends” by Scott Meredith. The author stated that Kaufman and Dorothy Parker moved in the same social circles, and they wrote a screenplay together for a short film called “Business Is Business”. Yet, they were not really good friends. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

There was a certain amount of rivalry between them: Kaufman once said gloomily, “Everything I’ve ever said will be credited to Dorothy Parker.”

The above citation appeared more than a decade after Kaufman’s death in 1961. So the evidence it provides is not strong.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Rhyme Does Not Pay

Dorothy Parker? Oscar Wilde? Mike Porter? Arch Ward? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Composing poetry is rarely a lucrative occupation. A traditional moralistic adage has been transformed into a comical warning for versifiers:

Crime does not pay.
Rhyme does not pay.

This word play has been credited to the prominent wit Dorothy Parker who published multiple collections of poetry. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest close match located by QI appeared in 1934 within a column by Martin A. Gosch in the “Evening Courier” of Camden, New Jersey. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

… a prize gag from colleague Mike Porter: Edith Murray, the CBS songbird, started out in life as a poet, but found that Rhyme does not pay!!

Dorothy Parker received credit for the quip by June 1938 as shown further below, but it was already in circulation.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: A Writer Is One To Whom Writing Comes Harder Than To Anybody Else

Thomas Mann? H. T. Lowe-Porter? Franz Leppmann? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Writing is an agonizing process requiring multiple drafts for some of its most skilled practitioners. Here are three versions of a pertinent quip:

(1) The writer is a person who has a hard time writing.

(2) A writer is a one who finds writing more difficult than other people.

(3) A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.

This saying has been ascribed to the Nobel-Prize-winning German literary figure Thomas Mann. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1903 Thomas Mann published a novella titled “Tristan” which included a character named Detlev Spinell who was an eccentric self-important writer. The omniscient narrator employed the quip while commenting on Spinell’s meager output. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Die Worte schienen ihm durchaus nicht zuzuströmen, für einen, dessen bürgerlicher Beruf das Schreiben ist, kam er jämmerlich langsam von der Stelle, und wer ihn sah, mußte zu der Anschauung gelangen, daß ein Schriftsteller ein Mann ist, dem das Schreiben schwerer fällt, als allen anderen Leuten.

The passage above has been translated into English by H. T. Lowe-Porter as follows:²

For his words did not come in a rush; they came with such pathetic slowness, considering the man was a writer by trade, you would have drawn the conclusion, watching him, that a writer is one to whom writing comes harder than to anybody else.

Thus, the story context reveals that Mann’s remark was not initially intended to apply to all writers. Instead, he aimed the comical barb at one fictional character. However, the citations in 1939 and 1946 given further below suggest that during interviews Mann did apply the statement to writers more generally.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: There Is a Plague on Man: His Opinion That He Knows Something

Michel de Montaigne? Charles Cotton? M. A. Screech? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Overconfidence is one of the great faults of humankind. Gaining mastery of a topic is often quite difficult. Here is a pertinent remark:

There is a plague on Man: his opinion that he knows something.

The prominent French philosopher Michel de Montaigne has received credit for this saying. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Michel de Montaigne began to publish his famous essays in the 1570s. He continued to create, revise, and publish the essays up to the time of his death in 1592. The work titled “Apologie de Raymond de Sebonde” (“Apology for Raimond Sebond”) contained the saying under examination. The following text and spelling is from a 1652 edition. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

La peste de l’homme c’est l’opinion de sçauoir. Voila pourquoy l’ignorance nous est tant recommandée par nostre Religion, comme piece propre à la creance et à l’obeissance.

The sentences above have been translated into English by M. A. Screech as follows:²

There is a plague on Man: his opinion that he knows something. That is why ignorance is so strongly advocated by our religion as a quality appropriate to belief and obedience.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Truth Is the First Casualty in War

Aeschylus? Philip Snowden? Ethel Annakin? Samuel Johnson? Anne MacVicar Grant? E. D. Morel? W. T. Foster? Agnes Maude Royden? Hiram Johnson? Arthur Ponsonby? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: The participants in a violent conflict often engage in crude propaganda and advocacy. Here are four versions of a pertinent saying:

Truth is the first casualty in war.
The first casualty of war is truth.
When war is declared, truth is the first victim.
In war, truth is the first casualty.

This adage has been credited to Aeschylus, Hiram Johnson, Arthur Ponsonby, and others. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest close match known to QI appeared in “The San Diego Union” newspaper of California in July 1915 within an article about a speech delivered by Ethel Annakin who was the wife of the British politician Philip Snowden. Annakin employed the saying while denouncing the ongoing conflict between the United Kingdom and Germany. She disclaimed credit by providing an anonymous attribution. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

“Someone has said that ‘truth is the first casualty of warfare,’” she continued, “and this has been proved by the appalling misconceptions that have been spread broadcast since the war began.”

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Tell Me What Company You Keep, and I Will Tell You What You Are

Miguel de Cervantes? Don Quixote? Sancho Panza? Euripides? Lord Chesterfield? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Joseph Hordern? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: If you are attempting to assess the character of an individual you can do it indirectly by identifying his or her friends and assessing their proclivities. Here are three versions of a pertinent saying:

Show me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.
Tell me your company, and I’ll tell you who you are.
By the company you keep I can tell what life you lead.

Would you please explore the provenance of this family of expressions?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest close match known to QI appeared in the influential Spanish novel “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes which appeared in two parts published in 1605 and 1615. The Spanish title was “Ingenioso Cavallero Don Qvixote de la Mancha” (“Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha”). The second part in 1615 included the following passage using non-standard spelling. The saying was spoken by Sancho Panza who was the faithful servant and squire of the main character Don Quixote. Boldface added to excepts by QI:¹

A qui encaxa bien el refran, dixo Sancho, de dime, con quien andas, dezirte he quien eres . . .

Here is a slightly longer passage from an English translation by Charles Jarvis published in 1749. The statement above is included in the rendering below. The phrase “your worship” corresponds to Don Quixote in this context:²

Here, quoth Sancho, the proverb hits right, Tell me your company, and I will tell you what you are. If your worship keeps company with those who fast and watch, what wonder is it that you neither eat nor sleep while you are with them?

Miguel de Cervantes disclaimed credit for the saying by calling it proverbial; thus, it was already circulating in Spanish before 1615.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: He Can Compress the Most Words In the Fewest Ideas of Anyone I Ever Knew

Abraham Lincoln? Henry Clay Whitney? Elliott Anthony? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: A verbose speaker employing overblown rhetoric reportedly inspired a humorous observation from U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Here are two versions:

That feller can crowd the most words into the fewest ideas of anyone I ever saw.
He can concentrate the most words into the smallest idea of any man I ever met.

Is there any substantive evidence that Lincoln actually made this quip?

Reply from Quote Investigator: There are two distinct anecdotes supporting the attribution of this joke to Abraham Lincoln. Both tales were told by people who claimed to have heard the remark directly from Lincoln. Unfortunately, both stories were published many years after the assassination of the famous statesman in 1865 with a concomitant reduction in credibility.

Henry Clay Whitney was a close friend of Lincoln who in 1892 published “Life on the Circuit with Lincoln” which included the following passage. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

There was a small merchant in Chicago, whom (to suppress his real name) I will call Blower, and who sold out his store and embraced the trade, or profession, of politics. Lincoln had great contempt for him, although he gave him an office; but he said to me one day: “That Blower can compress the most words in the fewest ideas of any man I ever knew.”

The second anecdote was told by Elliott Anthony within the 1899 book “The Bench and Bar of Illinois: Historical and Reminiscent”. Anthony was active in politics and frequently met with fellow Republican party member Lincoln. Both were lawyers who regularly visited courts and saw colleagues delivering speeches to juries.

The pair heard a lengthy semi-coherent address about insect-eating storks and the dykes of Holland that was delivered by attorney Robert S. Blackwell. Anthony relayed the following reaction spoken by Lincoln:²

That beats me! Blackwell can concentrate more words into the fewest ideas of any man I ever knew. The storks of Holland! Why, they would eat him up before he began to get half through telling that story about them.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.