Tracing Quotations
George Bernard Shaw? Voltaire? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Influential intellectuals have experienced cosmic despair while observing the behavior of humankind. Here are some statements I have heard attributed to Voltaire, George Bernard Shaw and others: Would you please explore this topic? Reply from Quote Investigator: This is a complex topic; hence, QI will split …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: This Earth Is Used By Other Planets as a Lunatic Asylum”
Creator: George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright and critic Context: Shaw’s play “The Doctor’s Dilemma” was first staged in London in 1906. In 1911 Shaw published the text of drama together with a lengthy preface which included the following passage. Emphasis added:[1] 1911, The Doctor’s Dilemma, with Preface on Doctors by Bernard Shaw, Section: Preface on …
George Bernard Shaw? Catholic Standard and Times? Ethel Watts Mumford? Oliver Herford? Addison Mizner? Arthur Wimperis? Colette d’Arville? Ogden Nash? Diana Rigg? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous playwright George Bernard Shaw has been credited with a clever bit of wordplay concerning the role of a critic. The quip transforms the following venerable idiom describing a …
George Bernard Shaw? Mark Twain? Abraham Lincoln? Cyrus Stuart Ching? J. Frank Condon? Richard P. Calhoon? N. H. Eagle? Cale Yarborough? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular metaphorical adage warns individuals not to engage with disreputable critics. Here are two versions: This saying has been credited to a triumvirate of quotation superstars: Mark Twain, …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Never Wrestle with a Pig. You Both Get Dirty and the Pig Likes It”
Thomas Henry Huxley? George Bernard Shaw? Garrett Hardin? Caryl P. Haskins? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: An influential idea passes through three stages: 1) Begins as heresy 2) Turns into orthodoxy, 3) Ends up as superstition. I cannot remember who said this. Can you help? Quote Investigator: There are several different quotations that describe the reception …
Lord Chesterfield? Hilaire Belloc? D. H. Lawrence? George Bernard Shaw? Alexander Duffield? W. Somerset Maugham? Elliot Paul? Samuel Hopkins Adams? Benjamin Franklin? P. D. James? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Lord Chesterfield reportedly crafted an outrageously humorous description of intimate relations. I’ve seen different versions that each comment on pleasure, position, and expense. Yet, I …
Continue reading “The Pleasure Is Momentary, the Position Is Ridiculous, the Expense Is Damnable”
Albert Einstein? Al-Anon? Narcotics Anonymous? Max Nordau? George Bernard Shaw? Samuel Beckett? George A. Kelly? Rita Mae Brown? John Larroquette? Jessie Potter? Werner Erhard? Question for Quote Investigator: It’s foolish to repeat ineffective actions. One popular formulation presents this point harshly: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and …
George Bernard Shaw? Otto Penzler? James Thurber? Harold Ross? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Reportedly, George Bernard Shaw once presented an idiosyncratic list of the three most famous individuals: Jesus Christ, Sherlock Holmes, and Harry Houdini. Did Shaw really put forward this triptych? Quote Investigator: The earliest evidence known to QI appeared in the 1976 biography …
George Bernard Shaw? Farmer Brown? Isaac Marcosson? Stephen Leacock? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The advice offered by economists is often equivocal and hedged. The famous playwright and witty social critic George Bernard Shaw reportedly crafted the following lament: If all the economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion. I have …
Continue reading “If All the Economists Were Laid End to End, They Would Not Reach a Conclusion”
George Bernard Shaw? George Melly? I. S. Johar? Ann Landers? Patrick Harte? Robert Frost? Winston Churchill? Oscar Wilde? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Here are two versions of an adage highlighting the sensual aspects of popular gyrations: George Bernard Shaw, Ann Landers, Oscar Wilde, and Robert Frost have received credit for this saying. What do …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Dancing Is a Perpendicular Expression of a Horizontal Desire”