Tracing Quotations
George Bernard Shaw? Mary McCarthy? Thomas Szasz? Sydney J. Harris? Helen A. De Rosis? Victoria Y. Pellegrino? Karen Horney? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: For decades pop-psychology has emphasized the task of “finding yourself”, i.e., identifying your deepest values, abilities, feelings, and desires. Yet, these qualities are not immutable. Instead, living fully means endlessly recreating yourself. …
Continue reading “Life Is Not About Finding Yourself. Life Is About Creating Yourself”
Mary McCarthy? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Some writers carefully map out the full plot of a novel before putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Other writers begin a story relying on an incomplete character sketch and a theme. The prominent novelist and critic Mary McCarthy said she felt suspense while writing and …
Mary McCarthy? Lillian Hellman? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The funniest caustic condemnation of a prevaricator that I have ever heard was delivered by the novelist and critic Mary McCarthy. The result was a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit filed by the famous playwright Lillian Hellman who was the target of the criticism. Would you please examine …
Continue reading “Every Word She Writes Is a Lie, Including “And” and “The””
John Barth? Mary McCarthy? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I am trying to locate a statement made by the prominent metafictionalist author John Barth. The quotation was similar to the following: Everyone is the hero of his own life story. Do you know where this appeared? Quote Investigator: John Barth did scribe a closely matching …
Continue reading “Everyone Is Necessarily the Hero of His Own Life Story”