Arthur Conan Doyle? Edgar Allan Poe? Dorothy L. Sayers? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous fictional detective once explained the methodology for solving mysteries. The sleuth should gather facts and systematically eliminate hypotheses that are impossible. When a single hypothesis remains, however improbable, it must be the truth. The description of this approach has …
Tag Archives: Dorothy L. Sayers
Quote Origin: The Next Best Thing To Being Clever Is Being Able To Quote Someone Who Is
Mary Pettibone Poole? A. A. Milne? Dorothy L. Sayers? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: If you cannot think of something clever to say then you can resort to the next best strategy. You can quote someone else who is clever. This point has been expressed with a concise statement. Would you please help me to …
Love, Anger, Sorrow, and a Cough Cannot Be Hid
Dorothy L. Sayers? George Eliot? Thomas Fuller? George Herbert? George Latimer Apperson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The ongoing pandemic reminded me of an eccentric proverb I once heard: Love and a cough cannot be hidden. The prominent mystery wrote Dorothy L. Sayers once referred to a statement like this. Would you please explore the history …
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A Quotation Is a Handy Thing To Have About, Saving One the Trouble of Thinking for Oneself, Always a Laborious Business
A. A. Milne? Lord Peter Wimsey? Dorothy L. Sayers? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A. A. Milne is famous for authoring children’s books that bring to life anthropomorphic characters such as Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet. Milne also composed essays aimed at adults, and he once criticized thinkers who recited quotations instead of engaging …
A Facility for Quotation Covers the Absence of Original Thought
Dorothy L. Sayers? Lord Peter Wimsey? Harriet Vane? Philip Broadley? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: I have found the perfect sardonic motto for the QI website: A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought. According to the “Encarta Book of Quotations”[ref] 2000, Encarta Book of Quotations, Edited by Bill Swainson, Entry: Dorothy L. Sayers, …
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As Years Come In and Years Go Out, I Totter Toward the Tomb
Dorothy L. Sayers? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Gossip mongers are obsessed with identifying and publicizing the latest carnal pairings of celebrities. The acclaimed mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers composed a short poem expressing disinterest in this subject, and I have seen two distinct versions of her humorous four lines. Would you please help me to …
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I Always Have a Quotation for Everything—It Saves Original Thinking
Creator: Dorothy L. Sayers, prominent English mystery writer, playwright, and poet Context: Sayers published the crime novel “Have His Carcase” in 1932. The quotation was spoken by Lord Peter Wimsey while he was conversing with Harriet Vane. Emphasis added to excerpts:[ref] 1975 (Copyright 1932), Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers, Series: A Lord Peter …
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