Quotes Uncovered
Here are more quote authors and origins Shapiro’s tracked down recently.
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.
Eric M. Jones asked:
“I’d rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy.” Dorothy Parker might have said it. This quip is frequently phrased (with variations): “a free bottle in front of me; a pre-frontal lobotomy.”
The Yale Book of Quotations, which attempts to trace all famous quotations to their earliest findable occurrence, has this:
“I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.” Tom Waits, quoted in Creem Magazine, March 1978.
Beth Lavadia asked:
My mother used to say in exasperation to my sisters and I, “For Pete’s sake!” Who is this Pete fellow and why is his name used in such an expression?
This is usually thought to refer to St. Peter, chosen as a less offensive swear reference than Jesus or God. But in the etymology business, the proper answer is often “etymology unknown,” and no one knows for sure who this Pete fellow is.
Franz asked:
I have a book somewhere about Lombardi that attributes this quote to him: “Winning isn’t everything, but making the effort to win is.” This is certainly different than “… winning is the only thing.”
The Yale Book of Quotations demonstrates that Red Sanders used the “… it’s the only thing” quote before Lombardi, but the YBQ does credit Lombardi with your variant:
“Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is!” Vince Lomabardi, quoted in Esquire, November 1962.
Do any readers have any other quotations whose origins they would like me to attempt to trace?
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I have no idea if this was a common saying, or if my grandmother coined it:
“If you can see a patch of blue the size of a dutchman’s pants, it’s not going to rain.”
Any clue? I always wondered what made a dutchman’s pants different from other pants so as to deserve such a mention.
The frontal lobotomy quote was from
Fred Allen (1894-1956)
Curly Sue-
Beyond the pale refers to the English invasion of Ireland that started during the reign of Henry VII. The Pale was the English stronghold in Northern Ireland, so beyond the Pale was uncivilized/barbarous.
My source is the This Sceptered Isle radio series produced by the BBC.
When asked why he charged so much for his paintings, Pablo Picasso replied:
“You take something from me that I love, I must take from you, something that you love”.
I don’t know where I first heard this and have not been able to find any source for it or whether it was ever actually attributed to Picasso.
Could you try and find the origins of the phrase:
“Too late, she cried, and waved her wooden leg”?
My Latin Teacher said that PALE was a latin acronym. I cannot recall the specific words except for pallus post, but the gist was the post marked the boundary of the law.
Isn’t the Peter of, “taking from Peter to pay to Paul?? So is Peter the wealthy one or is Peter? Isn’t this the real meaning of the idea of a Ponzi Scheme?
I’ve seen this quote and its variant attributed to both Plutarch and Robert Browning. Was wondering which one it was if either.
No, when the fight begins within himself, A man’s worth something. (Robert Browning)
When a man’s struggle begins within oneself, the man is worth something. (Plutarch)