Quote Origin: There Is a Thin Line Between Genius and Insanity. I Have Erased That Line

Oscar Levant? Zsa Zsa Gabor? John Dryden? Colin Wilson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A self-deprecating comedian once delivered an acerbic remark about insanity. Here are two versions: (1) There is a thin line between genius and insanity. I have erased that line.(2) There is a fine line between sanity and insanity. I’ve managed to …

Quote Origin: The Pun Is the Lowest Form of Humor When You Don’t Think of It First

Mary Livingstone? Oscar Levant? John Dryden? Jonathan Swift? Edgar Allan Poe? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The utterance of a pun is sometimes greeted with the assertion that puns are the lowest form of humor, but a humorist once explained the true reason behind this criticism. The complainer was unable to think of the pun …

Quote Origin: Those Who Most Dislike Puns Are Least Able To Utter Them

Edgar Allan Poe? Jonathan Swift? Mary Livingstone? Oscar Levant? H. L. Mencken? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Creating humorous puns is difficult which may help to explain why detractors are so harsh. A wit once said: Those who most dislike puns are least able to utter them The master of the macabre Edgar Allan Poe …

Quote Origin: Punning Is a Talent Which No Man Affects To Despise, But He That Is Without It

Jonathan Swift? Edgar Allan Poe? Mary Livingstone? Oscar Levant? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The dislike of puns is rooted in jealousy. A wit once said something like the following: Punning is a talent which no one despises except those without it. This notion has been attributed to Irish satirist Jonathan Swift, U.S. horror writer …

“I Am My Own Worst Enemy” “Not While I’m Alive”

Groucho Marx? Ernest Bevin? George S. Kaufman? Cotton Ed Smith? Franklin P. Adams? Alan Hale? Walter F. George? Oscar Levant? Dear Quote Investigator: A comment which acknowledges criticism has been coupled with a harshly comical riposte. Here are three examples: “I’m my own worst enemy. ” “Not while I’m in the room.” “She is her …

Insanity Is Hereditary. You Can Get It from Your Children

Sam Levenson? Oscar Levant? W. C. Fields? Helen Gorn Sutin? Dave Berg? Ann Landers? Erma Bombeck? Grace Kelly? Dear Quote Investigator: Many parents concur with a very funny quip that reverses the traditional notion of inheritance: Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids. This joke has been attributed to the newspaper columnist Erma …

First I Brush My Teeth and Then I Sharpen My Tongue

Dorothy Parker? Oscar Levant? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A famously trenchant wit was once asked to describe the daily routine followed after arising: I wake up in the morning and brush my teeth, and then I sharpen my tongue. These words have been attributed to the writer Dorothy Parker and to the pianist comedian Oscar …

An Epigram is Only a Wisecrack That’s Played Carnegie Hall

Oscar Levant? Edmund Fuller? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I see on the website that you looked into a quotation credited to the pianist, actor, and wit Oscar Levant and showed that someone else probably said it first. But I am confident that the following quote was originally said by Levant, and it fits the theme …

Beneath the Phony Tinsel of Hollywood You’ll Find the Real Tinsel

Oscar Levant? Ed Gardner? Henry Morgan? Dear Quote Investigator: Every time I hear Hollywood referred to as Tinseltown it reminds me of the following quote: Strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood and you find the real tinsel underneath. I have read this phrase in several places but was unsure who first created it. The …

Exit mobile version