George Bernard Shaw? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous playwright, critic, and essayist George Bernard Shaw has been credited with a remark about his world-wide fame. He entertainingly stated that his acclaim rested on his ability to engage in thought once or twice a week because others attempted to think only two or three times …
Tag Archives: George Bernard Shaw
Some People Never Miss an Opportunity to Miss an Opportunity
George Bernard Shaw? Abba Eban? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a popular phrase used to criticize individuals and groups. Here are three examples: Some politicians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. He never missed an occasion of losing an opportunity. This group loses no chance to miss an opportunity. Can you determine …
Continue reading “Some People Never Miss an Opportunity to Miss an Opportunity”
But Suppose the Child Inherited My Beauty and Your Brains?
George Bernard Shaw and Isadora Duncan? Anatole France and Isadora Duncan? Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe? Albert Einstein and a chorus girl? George Bernard Shaw and a strange lady in Zurich? Dear Quote Investigator: Reportedly there was famous exchange between the prominent playwright George Bernard Shaw and the glamorous dancer Isadora Duncan on the topic …
Continue reading “But Suppose the Child Inherited My Beauty and Your Brains?”
You Are Only Interested in Art and I Am Only Interested in Money
George Bernard Shaw? Howard Dietz? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a wonderful anecdote about a meeting between the famous movie studio chief Samuel Goldwyn and the renowned playwright George Bernard Shaw. Goldwyn flew to England to convince Shaw to write material for him to use in films. Goldwyn emphasized the high quality and the …
Continue reading “You Are Only Interested in Art and I Am Only Interested in Money”
It Is the Mark of a Truly Intelligent Person To Be Moved By Statistics
George Bernard Shaw? Bertrand Russell? Oscar Wilde? John H. Gibbons? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following quotation is used by speakers who are planning to project a series of slides that are filled with statistics. The words are credited to the famous dramatist and intellectual George Bernard Shaw. Here are two versions: The sign of …
Continue reading “It Is the Mark of a Truly Intelligent Person To Be Moved By Statistics”
Here are Two Tickets for the Opening of My Play. Bring a Friend—If You Have One
George Bernard Shaw? Winston Churchill? Randolph Churchill? Noel Coward? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The sharpest example of repartee that I have ever heard about was a famous exchange between George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill about a pair of tickets to a play. Shaw: I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my …
Continue reading “Here are Two Tickets for the Opening of My Play. Bring a Friend—If You Have One”
When the End of the World Comes, I Want To Be in Cincinnati. It Is Always Ten Years Behind the Times
Mark Twain? Heinrich Heine? Otto von Bismarck? George Bernard Shaw? James Boswell? Will Rogers? Dear Quote Investigator: As a one-time resident of Cincinnati I knew that Mark Twain once worked in the city, and I always enjoyed the comment he reportedly made about it: When the end of the world comes, I want to be …
Now We’re Just Haggling Over the Price
George Bernard Shaw? Winston Churchill? Groucho Marx? Max Aitken? Mark Twain? W. C. Fields? Bertrand Russell? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a famous story about sex and money that I have heard in myriad variations. A man asks a woman if she would be willing to sleep with him if he pays her an exorbitant …
You Have an Idea. I Have an Idea. We Swap. Now We Each Have Two Ideas.
George Bernard Shaw? SYSTEM magazine? Stanley B. Moore? Charles F. Brannan? Jimmy Durante? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a very valuable insight in the following saying that is credited to George Bernard Shaw: If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each …
Continue reading “You Have an Idea. I Have an Idea. We Swap. Now We Each Have Two Ideas.”
America Is the Only Country That Went from Barbarism to Decadence Without Civilization In Between
Ogden Nash? George Bernard Shaw? James Agate? La Liberté? Winston Churchill? Henry James? Oscar Wilde? Georges Clemenceau? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a famous humorous saying about the United States that has been credited to four celebrated wits: George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill, and Georges Clemenceau: America is the only country that went …