Mark Twain? E. B. White? Katharine S. White? André Maurois? Marty Feldman? Question for Quote Investigator: A cogent simile about the cerebral examination of humor has been attributed to three clever individuals: humorist Mark Twain, children’s author E. B. White, and French author André Maurois. Here are four versions: Analyzing humor is a bit like …
Tag Archives: Mark Twain
Quote Origin: You’ll Worry Less About What People Think of You When You Realize How Seldom They Do
David Foster Wallace? Olin Miller? Lee Traveler? Ethel Barrett? Mark Twain? John Steinbeck? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: An astute quotation about insecurity is often attributed to the novelist and teacher David Foster Wallace: You’ll worry less about what people think about you when you realize how seldom they do. Versions of this statement have …
Quote Origin: 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? Question for 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 …
Quote Origin: A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World While the Truth Is Putting On Its Shoes
Mark Twain? Jonathan Swift? Thomas Francklin? Fisher Ames? Thomas Jefferson? John Randolph? Charles Haddon Spurgeon? Winston Churchill? Terry Pratchett? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: An insightful remark about the rapid transmission of lies is often attributed to Mark Twain and Winston Churchill. Here are two versions: (1) A lie travels around the globe while the truth …
Quote Origin: I Would Challenge You To a Battle of Wits, But I See You Are Unarmed
William Shakespeare? Mark Twain? Oscar Wilde? Winston Churchill? Abby Buchanan Longstreet? Frank Fay? Pierre de Roman? Joey Adams? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There exists a collection of similar jokes based on word play and the terms: battle, armed, wit, and half-wit. Here are some examples: 1) I would challenge you to a battle of …
Quote Origin: Don’t Believe the World Owes You a Living. The World Owes You Nothing. It Was Here First
Mark Twain? Robert J. Burdette? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: During this graduation season many who are finishing school are scrambling to try and find a job. The following acerbic words are usually attributed to Mark Twain: Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living; the world owes you nothing, it was …
Quote Origin: War Is God’s Way of Teaching Us Geography
Ambrose Bierce? Paul Rodriguez? Jon Stewart? Mark Twain? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Many people are unable to find countries and major cities on a map. A comical remark about this cartographical ignorance has been attributed to both Ambrose Bierce and Mark Twain. Here are four versions: I searched in Bierce’s “The Devil’s Dictionary” and …
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Quote Origin: If Your Only Tool Is a Hammer Then Every Problem Looks Like a Nail
Mark Twain? Abraham Maslow? Abraham Kaplan? Silvan Tomkins? Kenneth Mark Colby? Lee Loevinger? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The tools that we are able to apply to problems alter our perceptions of the challenges we face and the solutions that are appropriate. A popular adage illustrates this idea with a compelling analogy. Here are three …
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Quote Origin: If I Am To Speak Ten Minutes, I Need a Week for Preparation; If an Hour, I Am Ready Now
Woodrow Wilson? Abraham Lincoln? Rufus Choate? Thomas B. Macaulay? William Howard Taft? Mark Twain? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A biography of President Woodrow Wilson included an entertaining quotation about the preparation time needed for speeches of varying lengths. Here is an excerpt from the book: A member of the Cabinet congratulated Wilson on introducing …
Quote Origin: Most Conversations Are Simply Monologues Delivered in the Presence of a Witness
Mark Twain? Margaret Millar? Elizabeth P. O’Connor? Rebecca West? Leo Buscaglia? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The following entertaining remark is often attributed to Mark Twain: Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses. I have also seen these words ascribed to the award-winning mystery writer Margaret Millar. Could you determine who …