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 …
Tag Archives: Alexander Pope
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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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? Dear 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 solid …
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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? Dear 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 rule, …
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They Will Not Let My Play Run, But Steal My Thunder
John Dennis? Alexander Pope? Apocryphal? Dear 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 made …
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He Who Would Pun Would Pick a Pocket
Alexander Pope? Samuel Johnson? Jonathan Swift? John Dennis? Anonymous? Dear 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 make …
To Err is Human; To Really Foul Things Up Requires a Computer
Paul Ehrlich? Alexander Pope? Senator Soaper? Bill Vaughan? Agatha Christie? Anonymous? Dear 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 you …
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