Mark Twain? James Wayle? Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar? Walter Winchell? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: In the past few days several phony quotations were widely disseminated on the internet; in other words, they went viral. My question is about a saying that might be genuine. A CNN article contains the following expression attributed to Mark Twain: …
Tag Archives: Walter Winchell
Quote Origin: A Gift Book Is an Item Which You Wouldn’t Take on Any Other Terms
Dorothy Parker? Walter Winchell? Fictional? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Recently, I gave a close friend a book as a gift, and on the accompanying card I included a quotation that Dorothy Parker once used in a book review: This must be a gift book. That is to say, a book which you wouldn’t take …
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Quote Origin: Meretricious and a Happy New Year
Gore Vidal? Franklin P. Adams? George S. Kaufman? Mary Horan? Chico Marx? Walter Winchell? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The holiday season is here, and I have a question about a pun. A critic once told Gore Vidal that one of his novels was meretricious and Gore pointedly replied: Really? Well, meretricious and a happy …
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Quote Origin: Be Nice to People on Your Way Up. You’ll Meet Them On Your Way Down
Jimmy Durante? Wilson Mizner? Walter Winchell? George Raft? Question for Quote Investigator: Sometimes clichés become clichés because they express important truths. I think this is an example: Be nice to those you meet on the way up because you will meet them on the way down Can you determine who first came up with this …
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Origin of a Theatrical Review: I Saw It Under Adverse Conditions. The Curtain Was Up
Groucho Marx? Walter Winchell? George S. Kaufman? George Jean Nathan? Question for Quote Investigator: A critic once provided a hilariously nonchalant evaluation of a theatrical production: I did not like it, but perhaps this judgment is unfair. I saw it under adverse conditions — the curtain was up. This statement has been credited to comedian …
Quote Origin: The Harder I Practice, the Luckier I Get
Gary Player? Arnold Palmer? Jerry Barber? Jack Youngblood? Lee Trevino? Ethel Merman? L. Frank Baum? Question for Quote Investigator: I am a fan of the golfing legend Gary Player, and the Wikipedia article about him says he: “Coined one of the most quoted aphorisms of post-War sport”: The harder you practice, the luckier you get. …
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Quote Origin: The Futuristic Weapons of WW3 Are Unknown, But WW4 Will Be Fought With Stones and Spears
Omar Bradley? Albert Einstein? Young Army Lieutenant? Walter Winchell? Joe Laitin? James W. Fulbright? Question for Quote Investigator: There is a great quotation about the type of weapons that will be used in World War IV. The words are both funny and chilling, and every time I have seen the saying it has been attributed …