Clare Boothe Luce – Quote Investigator®

The Duty of Newspapers Is To Comfort the Afflicted and To Afflict the Comfortable

Mr. Dooley? Finley Peter Dunne? William Randolph Hearst? Willmott Lewis? Frederick W. Burnham? Clare Boothe Luce? Kara V. Jackson? Lawrence Weschler? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Here are four phrases describing the duty of a newspaper or religious institution: Comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable Comfort the tormented, torment the comfortable Comforting the disturbed, disturbing the …

Continue reading “The Duty of Newspapers Is To Comfort the Afflicted and To Afflict the Comfortable”

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Clare Boothe Luce? Oscar Wilde? Walter Map? Marie Belloc Lowndes? James Agate? Leo Pavia? Walter Winchell? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: For centuries moral philosophers have propounded a conventional viewpoint about the rewards and punishments delivered by a deity. Here is an example from the “Summa Theologica” by Saint Thomas Aquinas who lived during the 13th …

Continue reading “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”

Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication

Leonardo da Vinci? Clare Boothe Luce? Leonard Thiessen? Elizabeth Hillyer? William Gaddis? Eleanor All? Apple Computer Company? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following aphorism has often been attributed to the brilliant Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci: Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Strangely, I have been unable to find any solid source for this ascription. Would …

Continue reading “Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication”

“Age Before Beauty.” “Pearls Before Swine.”

Dorothy Parker? Clare Boothe Luce? Sheilah Graham? Snooty debutante? Little chorus girl? Dear Quote Investigator: I think Dorothy Parker should be credited with the wittiest comeback ever spoken. She was attempting to go through a doorway at the same time as another person and words were exchanged. According to the story I heard the other …

Continue reading ““Age Before Beauty.” “Pearls Before Swine.””