Tracing Quotations
William Marcy Tweed? Boss Tweed? Thomas Nast? Zack Chandler? Napoleon Bonaparte? Joseph Stalin? Boris Bazhanov? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Remarks about the manipulation of vote tabulations have a long history. Apparently, a corrupt leader made a cynical pronouncement about voting. Here are three versions: Let me count the votes, and I care not who casts …
Continue reading “As Long As I Count the Votes, What Are You Going To Do About It?”
Vladimir Lenin? Joseph Stalin? Bogdan Raditsa? Ludwig Von Mises? Mario Scelba? Edward Derwinski? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Historically, the term “useful idiot” has referred to a naive or unwitting ally of a ruthless political movement especially a communist movement. Supposedly, Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin used this expression contemptuously of non-communists who aligned themselves …
Vladimir Lenin? Joseph Stalin? Karl Marx? George Racey Jordan? Samuel E. Keeble? S. Dmitrijewski? Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A quotation about imprudent greed and near-sightedness has been attributed to three prominent communists: Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and Karl Marx. Here are three versions of the statement: Would you please explore the provenance …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: The Capitalists Will Sell Us the Rope with Which We Will Hang Them”
Who Said It: Samuel Goldwyn? Mr. Jones? S. S. Van Dine? Joey Adams? Whispering Russian? Whose Funeral: Louis B. Mayer? Fogarty’s Brother? Joseph Stalin? W. Kerr Scott? Dear Quote Investigator: According to Hollywood legend when the tyrannical chief of a powerful movie studio died many were surprised to see that his funeral was well attended. …
Continue reading “The Crowd Came to the Funeral, Not To Mourn, But To Make Sure the Person Was Dead”
Joseph Stalin? Leonard Lyons? Beilby Porteus? Kurt Tucholsky? Erich Maria Remarque? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a vivid statement that typifies a heartless attitude toward human mortality: A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic. These words are often attributed to the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, but I have not …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: A Single Death Is a Tragedy; A Million Deaths Is a Statistic”