Dorothy Parker? Martin Luther? Jonathan Swift? Alexander Pope? Anne Marsh-Caldwell? Matthew Poole? Richard Steele? Thomas Guthrie? Austin O’Malley? Maurice Baring? Question for Quote Investigator: A scathing comment about wealthy people has been attributed to the U.S. writer Dorothy Parker: If you would know what the Lord God thinks of money, you have only to look …
Tag Archives: Alexander Pope
Quote Origin: A Work of Art That Contains Theories Is Like an Object on Which the Price Tag Has Been Left
Marcel Proust? Alexander Pope? Frederick A. Blossom? Sydney Schiff? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent literary figure disapproved of intellectual works filled with abstract discourse and archetypal characters. The critique was expressed as follows: A work of art that contains theories is like an object on which the price tag has been left. This …
Quote Origin: Luck Is the Residue of Design
Branch Rickey? John Milton? Alexander Pope? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Confident people believe that luck is really controlled by human action. Religious people believe that luck is actually controlled by divine action. Here is a pertinent adage: Luck is the residue of design. This statement has been credited to prominent U.S. sports executive Branch …
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Quote Origin: Beware of His False Knowledge: It Is More Dangerous Than Ignorance
George Bernard Shaw? Alexander Pope? H. W. James? Thomas Henry Huxley? Paul Janet? George Pellew? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently I saw a tweet with a quotation attributed to the famous playwright and intellectual George Bernard Shaw: Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. I haven’t been able to find a …
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Quote Origin: You Yourself May Serve To Show It, That Every Fool Is Not a Poet
Jonathan Swift? Samuel Taylor Coleridge? Alexander Pope? Théophile de Viau? Matthew Prior? Pierre de Ronsard? Scévole de Sainte-Marthe? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: According to legend a famous literary figure was accosted by a philistine who exclaimed that all poets were fools. The adroit spontaneous response provided a humorous comeuppance: Sir, I admit your general …
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Quote Origin: They Will Not Let My Play Run, But Steal My Thunder
John Dennis? Alexander Pope? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: To steal someone’s thunder means to take an idea, a strategy, or a policy created by another person and use it advantageously. It can also mean to grab attention by anticipating and pre-empting the strategy of another. This figurative phrase supposedly originated with an angry remark …
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Quote Origin: He Who Would Pun Would Pick a Pocket
Alexander Pope? Samuel Johnson? Jonathan Swift? John Dennis? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I have heard several versions of a quotation that is beloved by people who dislike puns: (1) He who would make a pun would pick a pocket. (2) A man who will pun, will pick a pocket. (3) A man who could …
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Quote Origin: To Err is Human; To Really Foul Things Up Requires a Computer
Paul Ehrlich? Alexander Pope? Senator Soaper? Bill Vaughan? Agatha Christie? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I am reading your blog and that shows I am not a Luddite, but computers can be very exasperating. One of my favorite quotations on this topic is the following: To err is human, but to really foul things up …
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