Tracing Quotations
Oscar Wilde? Felix Grendon? Percy Colson? Walter Winchell? Reader’s Digest? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A well-known moral injunction states that one should forgive one’s enemies. A humorous twist suggests that one should grant forgiveness because it produces annoyance in one’s adversaries. This notion has been attributed to the famous wit Oscar Wilde. Would you …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: Always Forgive Your Enemies; Nothing Annoys Them So Much”
Bertrand Russell? Frank P. Hobgood? Jessie Woodrow Wilson Sayre? Reader’s Digest? Montreal Star? Andrew Carnegie? Winston Churchill? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A piquant slogan has been used by pacifists and peace activists for decades. Here are two variants: The first saying is often attributed to the philosopher and social thinker Bertrand Russell, but I …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: War Does Not Determine Who Is Right — Only Who Is Left”
Eleanor Roosevelt? Reader’s Digest? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a remarkably insightful statement about self-esteem that is usually credited to Eleanor Roosevelt, the diplomat and former First Lady: No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. This is one of my favorite quotations, but I have not been able to …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent”