Charles Lamb? Thomas Love Peacock? William Makepeace Thackeray? Frederick Saunders? Oscar Wilde? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A humorous anecdote depicts an absurdist interaction between a worker and a supervisor: Supervisor: “You have arrived late for work.”Worker: “Yes, but I will make up for it by leaving early.” This reply has been attributed to the …
Tag Archives: Charles Lamb
Do Not Wait To Strike Till the Iron Is Hot; But Make It Hot By Striking
William Butler Yeats? William B. Sprague? Benjamin Franklin? Richard Sharp? Charles Lamb? Charles Caleb Colton? Oliver Cromwell? Peleg Sprague? Ernest Hemingway? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular proverb highlights the limited duration of an opportunity: Strike while the iron is hot. This metaphor has been astutely extended with advice for greater challenges: Make the iron …
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Positively, The Best Thing a Person Can Have To Do Is Nothing
Charles Lamb? Théophile Gautier? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: When I was choosing a major in college, people would ask me what I wished to do in life. I am somewhat indolent; hence, the following response reflects my underlying beliefs: The best thing to have to do is nothing. I usually did not share this thought …
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The Plays of Shakespeare Were Not Written by Shakespeare but by Another Man of the Same Name
Mark Twain? Oxford Student? Frenchman? Lewis Carroll? Schoolchild? G. K. Chesterton? Israel Zangwill? Charles Lamb? Benjamin Jowett? Aldous Huxley? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Determining the accurate provenance of famous plays and poems can be a contentious topic. According to tradition the composer of the Iliad and Odyssey has been referred to as Homer, but some …