A while back, I invited readers to submit quotations for which they wanted me to try to trace the origins, using The Yale Book of Quotations and more recent research by me. Hundreds of people have responded via comments or e-mails. I am responding as best I can, a few per week.
Quotes Uncovered
Here are more quote authors and origins Shapiro’s tracked down recently.
Marc Anthony asked:
“You can’t make your cake and eat it too,” refers to having everything work your way. Please research. This is a ridiculously clichéd quote. I made the cake. I will eat the cake.
The Yale Book of Quotations, which attempts to trace all famous quotations to their accurate origins, has the following:
At length I recollected the thoughtless saying of a great princess, who, on being informed that the country people had no bread, replied, “Then let them eat cake.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Confessions (1782).
The words “let them eat cake” are usually attributed to Marie-Antoinette, but the Rousseau usage, written in 1766 to 1767, before she had even arrived in France, makes it clear that the saying predated this famous queen.
David asked:
How about, “This too shall pass”?
The YBQ quotes Edward FitzGerald, Polonius: A Collection of Wise Saws and Modern Instances (1852):
The Sultan asked for a Signet motto, that should hold good for Adversity or Prospertiy. Solomon gave him, “This also shall pass away.”
Science Minded asked:
“Time is money” and “A penny saved is a penny earned.” The first two are Benjamin Franklin — I would imagine this last one is his too: “Haste makes waste.”
The first one is from Franklin, but not the others. Thomas Fuller, in The Worthies of England (1662) wrote “a penny saved is a penny gained.” John Heywood included “Haste makes waste” in Dialogue of Proverbs (1546).
Do any readers have any other quotations whose origins they would like me to attempt to trace?
Addendum: I did this week’s posting hastily and confused the two “cake” quotations. I’ll answer Marc Anthony’s actual question next week.
and 
. You can also watch it on 
Thanks for including mine!
Isn’t the expression “You can’t have your cake and eat it too”? Obviously you can make it and eat it, but you can’t eat it and still have it. Also, your response doesn’t seem to have much to do with the question asked. Weird.
It’s actually supposed to be ‘You can’t eat your cake and have it too’. It’s probably one of the most misquoted idioms ever. If you read it that way, you’ll see it makes a lot more sense – you can’t eat your cake and then still have it too!
Everyone is talking about cake, but the quote “This too, shall pass” is much older than the one recorded.
It occurs in Jewish literature and is attributed as a task Solomon himself gave to one of his subjects.
Since the story far predates Edward Fitzgerald, (and occurs in the Talmud), the person from whom it originated probably cannot be determined, but it must be at least from the first few centuries AD.
Yes but you can halve your cake & eat it too.
How about – it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.
What about “the proof is in the pudding”. Some say it was Cervantez’ Don Quixote, but others disagree.
I thought “this too shall pass ” was a teaching of the Buddha?