Tracing Quotations
Max Beerbohm? Rupert Brooke? Philip Guedalla? Oscar Wilde? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I have heard two distinct, humorous, and antithetical sayings about the composition of history: 1) History repeats itself, and the historians repeat each other 2) History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat each other. Statements of this type have been attributed …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: History Does Not Repeat Itself. The Historians Repeat One Another”
Oscar Wilde? Myron W. Reed? Will Rogers? Charlie Carter? Question for Quote Investigator: Several weeks ago I saw an article with the following humorous title: Why Arianna’s Talk Was the Best I’ve Ever Slept Through The piece was actually a very positive assessment and summary of a talk delivered by Arianna Huffington, founder of The …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: It Is the Best Play I Ever Slept Through”
Oscar Wilde? James McNeill Whistler? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I would like to learn more about a famous anecdote involving James McNeill Whistler, the painter who is known for his iconic portrait of his mother. Apparently, Whistler was able to trump Oscar Wilde, one of the greatest wits of the nineteenth century who was …
Continue reading “Dialogue Origin: “I Wish I Had Said That” “You Will, Oscar, You Will””
Oscar Wilde? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I saw an article on the web about brilliant repartee that listed the “Top 10 Best Comebacks”. One of the response lines was from the famous wit Oscar Wilde who addressed an audience from the stage after the performance of a play he had written. The acclamation for …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Every Time I Smell It, I Shall Be Reminded of You”
Oscar Wilde? W. Somerset Maugham? George Bernard Shaw? Voltaire? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: I thought you might enjoy the following remark attributed to Oscar Wilde: Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit. I saw this on the goodreads website, but the source of the saying was not listed. Further searching led to the following …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Quotation Is a Serviceable Substitute for Wit”
W. Somerset Maugham? Oscar Wilde? Mark Twain? Bret Harte? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: With the rapid growth of ebooks it seems that everyone is writing a book. Here is the funniest advice I have heard on this topic: There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. Several …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: There Are Three Rules for the Writing of a Novel”
George Bernard Shaw? Bertrand Russell? Oscar Wilde? John H. Gibbons? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following quotation is used by speakers who are planning to project a series of slides that are filled with statistics. The words are credited to the famous dramatist and intellectual George Bernard Shaw. Here are two versions: The sign …
Amish Saying? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Native American Proverb? Wendell Berry? Oscar Wilde? Chief Seattle? Moses Henry Cass? Dennis J. Hall? Helen Caldicott? Lester Brown? David R. Brower? Taghi Farvar? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: In my opinion the most thoughtful and poignant quotation about the environment is the following: We do not inherit the earth …
Mark Twain? Oscar Wilde? Josh Billings? Spanish Proverb? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Everyone is guilty of some procrastination. Even the industrious humorist Mark Twain was credited with a quotation sympathetic to the indolent: Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow. Puzzlingly, this same quip has been ascribed to …
Oscar Wilde? Edgar Saltus? Winston Churchill? Randolph Churchill? Lord Birkenhead? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: I have discovered two very similar quotations that are credited to two very different people. The first is ascribed to the legendary wit Oscar Wilde: I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best. The second saying …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: I Have the Simplest Tastes; I Am Always Satisfied with the Best”