You don’t need to know things. Make them up with confidence: there will always be enough people who want to believe and pay good money to spread the hogwash themselves.
I’ve recently been pondering this myself. I’m going to start attributing them to some obscure person I meet on the bus. Or at least ‘You know, THEY say…’
If Teddy Roosevelt said “Comparison is the thief of joy” in a letter to a friend, would that be for PhDs in literature or history to know? It is not like Teddy Roosevelt is known as an author.
I once wrote that we should be careful what to believe when something is taken out of context, but then I got a reply noting that I myself admitted that what I had written was literally “taken out of context”.
Having a famous person say something increases the perceived credibility – especially if it was said a long time ago. According to Quote Investigator, none of those people said that comparison is a thief of joy. There were many “thief of joy” quotes from that era. None were from famous authors and none were about comparison. 2003 was the first published variant of the familiar saying.
The problem with Twain is that he was a prolific on the lecture circuits and regular banquet speaker. Many of the quotes attributed to him were verbal ones written down by others, and not found in his books. Of course, even when he was alive, people were attributing their own witticisms to him, particularly if they weren’t fit for polite company. He was notorious for his crude jokes.
pearlsbs about 1 year ago
“Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.”― Abraham Lincoln
unfair.de about 1 year ago
You don’t need to know things. Make them up with confidence: there will always be enough people who want to believe and pay good money to spread the hogwash themselves.
Cactus-Pete about 1 year ago
Whatever the line is, it should be easy to figure out which of those three might have said it.
Yakety Sax about 1 year ago
“I didn’t say half the stuff they said I did.” Albert Einstein
markkahler52 about 1 year ago
O say anything… people will either forget or remember.
Bilan about 1 year ago
To answer her question, a quote sounds more impressive when it came from a famous person known for their quotes.
Rhetorical_Question about 1 year ago
It sounds like a good idea?
c001 about 1 year ago
That’s an easy one, Caulfield: T-shirt and poster makers have to sell their products.
P51Strega about 1 year ago
“The more I know about humanity the more I like my dog”. – widely attributed quote
The Orange Mailman about 1 year ago
Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.
sprint about 1 year ago
my favorite quote: “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing after they’ve tried everything else” Winston Churchill
JRobinson Premium Member about 1 year ago
If you’re trying to remember who said something, you’ll have about a 30% chance of being right if you say it was either Mark Twain or Dorothy Parker.
e.groves about 1 year ago
What’s he talking about?
goboboyd about 1 year ago
I’ve recently been pondering this myself. I’m going to start attributing them to some obscure person I meet on the bus. Or at least ‘You know, THEY say…’
sandpiper about 1 year ago
Wanna guess which ‘coinage’ they are discussing?
DM2860 about 1 year ago
If Teddy Roosevelt said “Comparison is the thief of joy” in a letter to a friend, would that be for PhDs in literature or history to know? It is not like Teddy Roosevelt is known as an author.
DaBump Premium Member about 1 year ago
SO many of those out there these days. Don’t believe any attribution you don’t know yourself for sure without checking out the reference.
prrdh about 1 year ago
Who was it who said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you in trouble so much as what you know that just ain’t so”?
rshive about 1 year ago
Fred in the Hanes Company teaches literature in his spare time.
rugeirn about 1 year ago
“Of course I lost the election. Isn’t it obvious?” — Donald J. Trump, The Nation, Aug 25, 2023, p. 4. Now, if only THAT would go viral.
cissycox about 1 year ago
My favorite quote: “Out side of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read”
Ignatz Premium Member about 1 year ago
“Interesting quotes should always be attributed to somebody important.” – Cicero
calliarcale about 1 year ago
Because it’s plausible enough that we can be reasonably sure most people won’t check. ;-)
The Wolf In Your Midst about 1 year ago
Could be worse. One of these days I want to make a T-shirt that says “Che Guevara would put a bullet in your head for wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt”.
kv450 about 1 year ago
Jesse Jackson (allegedly) – “you start off saying ‘as someone was said …’, after many repetitions, you can eventually say ‘as I’ve often said’”.
Bill The Nuke about 1 year ago
“Mark Twain never said that” Hard to prove a negative.
Stephen Gilberg about 1 year ago
Once in a while, someone appears to be known only for a single quotation. Finding anything else about them is hard.
Teto85 Premium Member about 1 year ago
“Harry, use the Force.” Gandalf
Richard S Russell Premium Member about 1 year ago
C’mon, we all know that, if it was a great line, it was from George Carlin!
Richard S Russell Premium Member about 1 year ago
I once wrote that we should be careful what to believe when something is taken out of context, but then I got a reply noting that I myself admitted that what I had written was literally “taken out of context”.
jbarnes about 1 year ago
Having a famous person say something increases the perceived credibility – especially if it was said a long time ago. According to Quote Investigator, none of those people said that comparison is a thief of joy. There were many “thief of joy” quotes from that era. None were from famous authors and none were about comparison. 2003 was the first published variant of the familiar saying.
>
B.D. about 1 year ago
“And now I need a bath.”
-Albert Einstein
(Get Fuzzy July 26, 2007)
Boots at the Boar Premium Member about 1 year ago
The problem with Twain is that he was a prolific on the lecture circuits and regular banquet speaker. Many of the quotes attributed to him were verbal ones written down by others, and not found in his books. Of course, even when he was alive, people were attributing their own witticisms to him, particularly if they weren’t fit for polite company. He was notorious for his crude jokes.