Tracing Quotations
Oscar Wilde? Francis Douglas? 11th Marquess of Queensberry? Percy Colson? Mark Twain? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The Book of Genesis describes the creation of the world and the formation of Adam and Eve. The actions of this couple in the Garden of Eden quickly revealed behavioral defects. A sardonic commentator has suggested that God …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: God In Creating Man, Somewhat Overestimated His Ability”
Mark Twain? Merle Johnson? Caroline Thomas Harnsberger? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Mark Twain once spoke about the number of fools in the world. He did not believe that there were too many fools, but he did suggest that lightning strikes were not ideally distributed. Would you please help me to find a citation for …
Abraham Lincoln? Emperor Sigismund? Martin Luther King? Loretta Young? Mark Twain? Cardinal Richelieu? Robert Jones Burdette? John Wooden? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The leader of a victorious group decided to treat the vanquished people with compassion. Critics of the leader were unhappy because they believed that the enemies deserved destruction. Here are three versions …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Destroy My Enemies When I Make Them My Friends”
Benjamin Franklin? Mark Twain? Christopher Bullock? Edward Ward? Daniel Defoe? Joseph Reed? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Grumbling about paying taxes is nearly universal. Here are four versions of a pertinent saying: The U.S. statesman Benjamin Franklin and the humorist Mark Twain have received credit for this remark. Would you please explore this topic? Reply …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Nothing Is Certain, Except Death and Taxes”
Mark Twain? John Wesley? John M. Bartholomew? Arthur Twining Hadley? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Lengthy orations on spiritual topics are unlikely to change the views of resistant audience members. Here are three versions of a pertinent adage: This saying has been credited to humorist Mark Twain and 18th-century English evangelist John Wesley. Would you …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Few Souls Are Saved After the First Twenty Minutes of a Sermon”
Mark Twain? Richard Branson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following comical remark reassures neophyte speakers that their anxious feelings are universal: There are only two types of speakers: (1) the nervous (2) the liars. This quip is usually attributed to the famous humorist Mark Twain, but I cannot find a solid citation, and I …
Mark Twain? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently, I encountered an insightful quotation about courage attributed to Mark Twain that I had not seen before: Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, and not the absence of fear. Is this a genuine Twain quotation? Where did it appear? Reply from Quote Investigator: In December …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Courage Is Resistance To Fear, Mastery of Fear—Not Absence of Fear”
Ernest Hemingway? Mark Twain? Luke McLuke? Lydia DeVilbiss? Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.? Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.? Frederick B. Wilcox? Abigail Van Buren? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: While searching the twitter database I encountered the following two similar jokes: (1) Humans need two years to learn to speak and sixty years to learn to shut …
Albert Einstein? Ray Cummings? Mark Twain? Arthur C. Clarke? John Archibald Wheeler? Arthur Power Dudden? Susan Sontag? Question for Quote Investigator: Albert Einstein has received credit for a humorous remark about time: The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once. Would you please explore the provenance of this quip? Reply …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Time Is What Keeps Everything From Happening At Once”
Mark Twain? Horace Greeley? N. D. Hillis? Question for Quote Investigator: Two interesting quotations begin with the same phrases but diverge to emphasize different ideas of impermanence: Fame is a vapor; popularity an accident; the only earthly certainty is oblivion. Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wings, those who cheer today will …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Fame Is a Vapor; Popularity an Accident; Riches Take Wings”