Israel Zangwill? G. K. Chesterton? George Bernard Shaw? William Thomas Stead? H. G. Wells? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Intellectuals often think very highly of themselves. One wit satirized this self-absorption with the following quip: The way he believes in himself is very refreshing in these atheistic days when so many believe in no God …
Tag Archives: Israel Zangwill
Quote Origin: Democracy Is the Worst Form of Government Except For All Others Which Have Been Tried
Winston Churchill? Guy Henson? Plato? Israel Zangwill? William Ralph Inge? Robert Briffault? Herbert Hoover? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The flaws in the democratic form of government are numerous, yet the alternatives such as oligarchy and autocracy inevitably become oppressive and tyrannical. A famous saying states that democracy is the worst form of government except …
I Drink To Keep Body and Soul Apart
Oscar Wilde? Seamus Heaney? Dorothy Parker? Israel Zangwill? Jen Kirkman? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The body and the soul separate at the time of death according to many religious systems. Hence, the idiom “keep body and soul together” refers to maintaining life, i.e., earning enough money to maintain health and activity. The famous Irish wit …
Salary Is No Object; I Want Only Enough To Keep Body and Soul Apart
Dorothy Parker? Alexander Woollcott? Israel Zangwill? Oscar Wilde? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The body and the soul separate at the time of death according to many religious systems. Hence, the idiom “keep body and soul together” refers to maintaining life, i.e., earning enough money to maintain health and activity. A quipster once reversed this formula …
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The Plays of Shakespeare Were Not Written by Shakespeare but by Another Man of the Same Name
Mark Twain? Oxford Student? Frenchman? Lewis Carroll? Schoolchild? G. K. Chesterton? Israel Zangwill? Charles Lamb? Benjamin Jowett? Aldous Huxley? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Determining the accurate provenance of famous plays and poems can be a contentious topic. According to tradition the composer of the Iliad and Odyssey has been referred to as Homer, but some …
Every Dogma Has Its Day
Anthony Burgess? Israel Zangwill? Carolyn Wells? Merry-Andrew? Abraham Rotstein? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The proverb “Every dog has his day” is familiar to many, but recently I came across an amusing twist: Every dogma has its day. These words were credited to the English author Anthony Burgess who is probably best known for the novel …