Tracing Quotations
Zora Neale Hurston? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A new year brings uncertainties and choices. The uncertainties will be resolved in a future year. A prominent literary figure once wrote: There are years that ask questions and years that answer. This statement has been attributed to U.S. writer Zora Neale Hurston. Would you please help …
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William Howard Taft? Arthur Twining Hadley? Zora Neale Hurston? James Barnes? Wigg? Wagg? LeBaron Russell Briggs? Joseph Choate? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The rivalry between the universities Yale and Harvard exists in the domain of quips. The following jests use wordplay based on two different meanings of “tell”: (1) You always can tell a …
Continue reading “You Can Always Tell a Harvard / Yale Student, But You Can’t Tell Them Much”
Zora Neale Hurston? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Brilliant writers are often impelled to share a tale. Keeping an untold story inside can cause agony. The prominent author Zora Neale Hurston said something like this. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In 1942 Zora Neale Hurston published “Dust Tracks on a …
Continue reading “There Is No Agony Like Bearing an Untold Story Inside You”
Zora Neale Hurston? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Author Zora Neale Hurston was a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Her robust self-confidence provided resilience when facing prejudice. Apparently, she wrote or said the following: How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company! Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: …
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Zora Neale Hurston? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Futurists use the horizon metaphorically to help explain the limits of prediction. As one approaches the horizon, more of the world becomes visible, but there are always vast regions that remain invisible because they are beyond the horizon. I think the Harlem Renaissance author Zora Neale Hurston employed …
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Zora Neale Hurston? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A quotation about success has been attributed to the prominent American author and pioneering folklorist Zora Neale Hurston. Here are two versions: Those who don’t got it, can’t show it. Those who got it, can’t hide it Those that don’t got it, can’t show it. Those that got …
Continue reading “If You Haven’t Got It, You Can’t Show It. If You Have Got It, You Can’t Hide It”