Tracing Quotations
Oscar Wilde? Mark Twain? Frank Fiest? Will Rogers? Walter Armstrong? Herman Lindauer? William M. Lewis? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: What do the following musical instruments have in common: cornet, ukulele, saxophone, bagpipes, accordion, and banjo? Each of these instruments has a distinctive sound that is unpleasant to some listeners providing inspiration for a family of …
Continue reading “My Idea of a Gentleman Is He Who Can Play a Cornet and Won’t”
Oscar Wilde? Charles Francis Potter? Mabel C. Wolcott? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous wit Oscar Wilde was an avid reader and an excellent classicist. The following statement has been attributed to him: It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it. I …
Paul Valéry? W. H. Auden? Anaïs Nin? Maya Deren? Jean Cocteau? Esther Kellner? Gene Fowler? Gore Vidal? Marianne Moore? George Lucas? Oscar Wilde? Question for Quote Investigator: A creative person who is absorbed with the task of generating an artwork hesitates to declare completion. Reworking and improving a piece is always a tantalizing possibility. Here …
Continue reading “A Work of Art Is Never Finished, Merely Abandoned”
Oscar Wilde? George Bernard Shaw? Ambrose Bierce? Charles Frederick Joy? Percival Christopher Wren? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: If you are attending a soporific party, and the host asks whether you are content you might reply with the following comically self-absorbed zinger attributed to the famous Irish wit Oscar Wilde: “Are you enjoying yourself, Mr. Wilde?” …
Continue reading ““Are You Enjoying Yourself?” “Yes, But That’s the Only Thing I Am Enjoying””
Theodore Roosevelt? Oscar Wilde? William Allen Harper? Ayn Rand? Casey Kasem? Question for Quote Investigator: High aspirations should be combined with a practical spirit to achieve greatness. This notion can be expressed with the following adage: Keep your eyes on the stars, but your feet on the ground. This statement has been attributed to U.S. …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Keep Your Eyes On the Stars, But Your Feet On the Ground”
Oscar Wilde? Louise Jopling? Hesketh Pearson? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: After the enormously successful debut of a comedy by Oscar Wilde the audience demanded that the playwright deliver a few words. His speech included a comically self-congratulatory line that was similar to the following: You think almost as highly of the play as I do …
Continue reading “I Am Pleased To Believe That You Like the Piece Almost as Much as I Do Myself”
Oscar Wilde? Michael Cunningham? Robert Klitzman? Robert Michels? Frank Underwood? Kevin Spacey? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: While reading about the precipitous downfall of an influential literary tastemaker and powerbroker at “The Paris Review” I encountered once again a remark attributed to Oscar Wilde. Here are three versions: Everything is about sex except sex. Sex …
Continue reading “Everything Is About Sex Except Sex. Sex Is About Power”
Oscar Wilde? Alfred Hitchcock? Joseph Wood Krutch? Margo Coleman? Bennett Cerf? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Anyone who has grown tired of reading idealized and overly sentimental visions of nature will enjoy the following skewed definition: Nature is where the birds fly around uncooked. These words are credited to Oscar Wilde, but I haven’t found any …
Continue reading “The Country: A Damp Sort of Place Where All Sorts of Birds Fly About Uncooked”
Oscar Wilde? Sign in Leadville? Minister in Pooleville, Arkansas? Dear Quote Investigator: When Oscar Wilde was touring the United States he apparently saw a sign in a saloon requesting goodwill for the keyboardist. Here are three versions: Please do not shoot the piano player; he is doing his best. Please don’t shoot at the pianist; …
Continue reading “Please Do Not Shoot the Pianist. He Is Doing His Best”
Oscar Wilde? Frank Harris? Irish Barrister? Wilton Lackaye? Margaret Waters? Well-Known Young Clubman? Gustav Traub? Mike Romanoff? Samuel George Blythe? Arthur M. Binstead? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The scintillating conversationalist Oscar Wilde enjoyed modifying dusty platitudes to construct comical alternatives. For example, he reportedly permuted an old complaint about the working class to yield: …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Work is the Curse of the Drinking Classes”