Tracing Quotations
Albert King? Booker T. Jones? William Bell? Dick Gregory? E. K. Means? Sidney Sutherland? Sidney Skolsky? Bill Brisson? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: A popular blues song from the 1960s contains the following memorable lament: If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all. How old is this mordant quip? Would you …
Continue reading “If It Wasn’t for Bad Luck I Wouldn’t Have Any Luck At All”
Who Made the Criticism?: Dorothy Parker? Blanca Holmes? Vincent Sheean? Sidney Skolsky? Anonymous? Who Was Being Criticized?: Alan Campbell? Lloyd George? Orson Welles? Dear Quote Investigator: A person who is tough and adaptable is able to absorb setbacks in life and continue onward. This capability is represented metaphorically by a tumbler who lands upright. I …
Continue reading “No Matter What Happens He Will Land On Someone Else’s Feet”
Dorothy Parker? Mark Twain? Samuel Johnson? Sidney Skolsky? Margaret Case Harriman? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The scintillating wit Dorothy Parker once listened to an enumeration of the many positive attributes of a person she disliked. Below is the final statement of praise together with Parker’s acerbic response: “She is always kind to her inferiors.” “And …
Continue reading ““She Is Always Kind to Her Inferiors” “But Where Does She Find Them?””
Groucho Marx? A. E. Thomas? Beatrice Faber? Sidney Skolsky? Hugh Herbert? Walter Catlett? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: When Groucho Marx was leaving a boring party he supposedly said: I have had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it. Did Groucho really insult a host or hostess in this way, or did he use this …
Continue reading “I’ve Had a Perfectly Wonderful Evening, But This Wasn’t It”