Mark Twain? Robert Heinlein? Paul Dickson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Teaching a pig to sing is a futile task that aggravates the porcine student according to a popular saying. Luminary Mark Twain and science fiction author Robert Heinlein have received credit for this adage. Would you please determine the accurate ascription and the original …
Tag Archives: Mark Twain
Quote Origin: Never Wrestle with a Pig. You Both Get Dirty and the Pig Likes It
George Bernard Shaw? Mark Twain? Abraham Lincoln? Cyrus Stuart Ching? J. Frank Condon? Richard P. Calhoon? N. H. Eagle? Cale Yarborough? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular metaphorical adage warns individuals not to engage with disreputable critics. Here are two versions: This saying has been credited to a triumvirate of quotation superstars: Mark Twain, …
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Quote Origin: Put All Your Eggs in One Basket, and Then Watch That Basket
Mark Twain? Andrew Carnegie? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Proverbial wisdom tells us never to put all our eggs in one basket, but an inversion of that advice has been ascribed to the renowned humorist Mark Twain and the business titan Andrew Carnegie. Who should receive credit? Reply from Quote Investigator: On June 23, 1885 …
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Quote Origin: There Is No God, and Harriet Martineau Is His Prophet
Prophet: Harriet Martineau? William Tweed? John Tyndall? Auguste Comte? Robert G. Ingersoll? Karl Marx? Charles Darwin? Herbert Spencer? Henry George Atkinson? Paul Dirac? Felix Adler? Critic: Mark Twain? Douglas William Jerrold? George Grote? J. P. Jacobsen? Isaac M. Wise? Wolfgang Pauli? Question for Quote Investigator: The prominent physicist Paul Dirac was hostile toward religion, and …
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Quote Origin: It Is Wiser To Find Out Than To Suppose
Mark Twain? Merle Johnson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I would like to use the following adage during a presentation to a large group: It is wiser to find out than to suppose. I plan to credit Mark Twain, but I know that if I am wrong it will be very embarrassing because the entire …
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Quote Origin: Sacred Cows Make the Best Hamburger
Mark Twain? Abbie Hoffman? Roy F. Nichols? George McKinnon? Aardvark Magazine? Graffito? Question for Quote Investigator: The following has often been ascribed to the famous humorist Mark Twain and the 1960s-era political activist Abbie Hoffman: Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger. Apologies for offensiveness. Would you please explore the provenance of this expression? Reply from …
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Quote Origin: If You Don’t Read the Newspaper You Are Uninformed, If You Do Read the Newspaper You Are Misinformed
Mark Twain? Denzel Washington? Thomas Jefferson? Thomas Fuller? Orville Hubbard? Ezra Taft Benson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A cynical attitude toward the media is widespread today, but this is not a new development. Supposedly, Mark Twain made the following remark: If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed; if you do read the …
Quote Origin: Wagner’s Music Is Really Much Better Than It Sounds
Mark Twain? Bill Nye? Ambrose Bierce? Punch Magazine? Question for Quote Investigator: Richard Wagner was a prominent German composer who created the landmark four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). A comically incongruous remark about his efforts has been attributed to two famous American humorists Mark Twain and Bill Nye: Wagner’s …
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Quote Origin: Conspiracy Is the Pursuance of Policies Which They Dare Not Admit in Public
Mark Twain? Ossip Gabrilowitsch? Clara Clemens? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I’m conducting a research check on a television script containing a definition for the term “conspiracy” credited to Mark Twain. The definition notes that the conspiring participants “dare not admit in public” the secret agreement. Are you familiar with this quotation? Is the attribution …
Quote Origin: There Is Always a Well-Known Solution to Every Human Problem—Neat, Plausible, and Wrong
Mark Twain? H. L. Mencken? Peter Drucker? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular saying presents a vivid warning about apparent solutions which are too good to be true. Here are four versions: These expressions have been attributed to the famous humorist Mark Twain, the witty curmudgeon H. L. Mencken (Henry Louis Mencken), and the …