H.L. Mencken? Gerald W. Johnson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Oppressive laws are sometimes promulgated to target unsavory individuals. The opposition to these laws requires defending these individuals. The famous Baltimore journalist and commentator H. L. Mencken apparently said something like the following: The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most …
Tag Archives: H.L. Mencken
Dear Sir (Or Madam), You May Be Right
H. L. Mencken? Jack Dempsey? Peg Bracken? Bennett Cerf? Alexander Woollcott? Stewart Holbrook? William Safire? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Forceful newspaper columnists often receive opinionated and hostile responses. There is a powerful temptation to send a sharp retort. Yet, one famous journalist typically replied with a brief disarming note: Dear Sir (or Madam ), You …
It’s a Great Life If You Don’t Weaken
John Buchan? Elizabeth Murray? Graham Greene? Dorothy Parker? Thomas Carter? H. L. Mencken? Sime Silverman? Karl Braun? Gene Byrnes? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: When you face a series of obstacles and successfully persevere you might employ the following saying. Here are three versions: It’s a great life if you don’t weaken. It’s a grand life …
Time Is Too Slow for Those Who Wait; Too Swift for Those Who Fear
William Shakespeare? Henry van Dyke? Alice Morse Earle? Katrina Trask? H. L. Mencken? Lady Jane Fellowes? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The following lines have been credited to the famous English playwright and poet William Shakespeare: Time is very slow for those who wait Very fast for those who are scared Very long for those who …
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If I Owned Hell and Texas, I Would Rent Texas and Live at the Other Place
Philip Sheridan? H. L. Mencken? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Texas is a beloved state to many, but it also has detractors. One comical remark compares the state unfavorably to Hades: If I owned Hell and Texas, I’d rent out Texas and live in Hell. Would you please explore the provenance of this joke? Quote Investigator: …
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The Trouble with Communism is the Communists, Just as the Trouble with Christianity is the Christians
H. L. Mencken? Martin Luther King Jr.? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The U.S. satirist and curmudgeon H. L. Mencken apparently employed the following saying. Here are two versions: The trouble with communism are the communists. The trouble with communism is the communists. If this remark is authentic would you please help me to find a …
Politician: Straddling the Fence With Both Ears To the Ground
H. L. Mencken? Arthur Stanwood Pier? L. Curry Morton? Life Magazine? Sylvester K. Stevens? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A startling and funny depiction of a politician has been constructed by mixing two vivid metaphors: A politician is an animal who can sit on a fence and yet keep both ears to the ground. This remark …
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The United Voice of Myriads Cannot Lend the Smallest Foundation To Falsehood
Oliver Goldsmith? H. L. Mencken? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: In the Internet Age a falsehood is sometimes repeated incessantly and propagated across the world. Yet, the collective voice of one million people cannot transform a falsehood into a truth. This insight has a long history. The prominent Anglo-Irish novelist and playwright Oliver Goldsmith said something …
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I Never Vote For Anybody. I Always Vote Against
W. C. Fields? Franklin P. Adams? H. L. Mencken? Richard Croker? Franklin D. Roosevelt? Will Rogers? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a family of sardonic sayings about the behavior of voters. Here are three examples: I never vote for anybody. I always vote against. People vote against somebody rather than for somebody. The people never …
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Television? No Good Will Come of This Device. The Word Is Half Greek and Half Latin
C. P. Scott? Kenneth Adam? Bernard Levin? Harvey W. Wiley? Ivor Brown? H. L. Mencken? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: While reading a book about woefully inaccurate predictions I came across a humorously incongruous statement about a wildly successful gadget: Television? The word is half Greek, half Latin. No good can come of it. British journalist …