Samuel Johnson? Martin Sherlock? Johann Heinrich Voss? Gotthold Ephraim Lessing? Richard Brinsley Sheridan? Daniel Webster? Samuel Wilberforce Question for Quote Investigator: The great lexicographer Dr. Samuel Johnson is credited with a famously devastating remark about a book he was evaluating: Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not …
Tag Archives: Samuel Johnson
Quote Origin: You Are Astonished. I Am Surprised
Noah Webster? Samuel Johnson? Chauncey Depew? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a ribald anecdote about one of the world’s greatest dictionary makers that I would like you to explore. The tale claims that the lexicographer Noah Webster had a secret libertine inclination. One day his wife returned home and was shocked to discover …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: You Are Astonished. I Am Surprised”
Quote Origin: You Don’t Have to Know Everything. You Just Have to Know Where to Find It
Albert Einstein? Samuel Johnson? Sophonisba Breckinridge? John Brunner? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The depth and breadth of information available on the internet is wondrous. Here are three examples from a family of pertinent sayings I came across recently: 1) I don’t need to know everything; I just need to know where to find it, …
Quote Origin: You Can Easily Judge the Character of a Man by How He Treats Those Who Can Do Nothing for Him
Ann Landers? Abigail Van Buren? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Samuel Johnson? Malcolm Forbes? Paul Eldridge? Charles Haddon Spurgeon? James D. Miles? Dan Reeves? Question for Quote Investigator: I am attempting to verify the following quotation because it will appear in a forthcoming book, but I have discovered multiple attributions: You can easily judge the character …