Tag Archives: Christopher Morley

Quote Origin: Every Writer Has a Lifetime Ration of Three Exclamation Points

William Maxwell? Annabel Davis-Goff? Elmore Leonard? Helen Dudar? Benjamin Dreyer? William Safire? F. Scott Fitzgerald? Sheilah Graham? Christopher Morley? Terry Hersom? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The stylistically appropriate use of exclamation points is a contentious topic. One writer proposed the following comically extreme self-contradictory rule: Kill all exclamation points!!! Style guides have presented the …

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Quote Origin: Paragraphing Consists of Stroking a Platitude Until It Purrs Like an Epigram

Don Marquis? Christopher Morley? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Crafting a bright witticism or a clever aphorism is a difficult task especially for a writer who is facing a tight deadline. One strategy is described as follows: Stroke a platitude until it purrs like an epigram. This remark has been ascribed to Don Marquis who …

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Quote Origin: If You Make People Think They’re Thinking, They’ll Love You. If You Really Make Them Think They’ll Hate You

Don Marquis? Christopher Morley? Roscoe B. Ellard? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: People readily accept thoughtful opinions that are close to their own, but they become unhappy when sharply different viewpoints are expressed forcefully. Here is a germane remark: If you make people think they’re thinking, they’ll love you. If you really make them think …

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Quote Origin: There’s Damn Few Girls as Well Shaped as a Fine Horse

Hannah Arendt? Christopher Morley? Kitty Foyle? Rosey Rittenhouse? Question for Quote Investigator: While looking through a compilation of quotations about horses I came across the following: Few girls are as well shaped as a good horse. Inexplicably, the words were ascribed to the political theorist Hannah Arendt who wrote about the Nazi Adolf Eichmann and …

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