Each week, I’ve been inviting readers to submit quotations for which they want me to try to trace the origin, using The Yale Book of Quotations and my own research. Here is the latest round.
roughbed asked:
Perhaps you could help out famous Science Fiction author William Gibson, who recently tried to trace down the origin of the following sentence, often attributed to George Orwell: “People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
The Yale Book of Quotations has the following item:
“He [Kipling] sees clearly that men can only be highly civilized while other men, inevitably less civilized, are there to guard and feed them.” George Orwell, “Rudyard Kipling” (1942).
This is the closest passage in Orwell’s writings that has been found to the following quotation popularly attributed to him: “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” (Or sometimes, “We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.”)
Wally asked:
Does anyone know where this quote come from: “It is not enough that I should win — my enemy must also lose.”
The YBQ quotes Gore Vidal as follows:
“It is not enough to succeed; others must fail.” Quoted in Newport Daily News, Nov. 3, 1978.
Phyllis Otto asked:
Wondering what is the exact quotation of this and from whence does it originate: “The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet it.”
The Yale Book of Quotations, which attempts to trace all famous quotations to their earliest findable occurrence, notes that this is associated with Damon Runyon, who used it in a 1937 book. However, according to the YBQ, the Chicago Tribune, May 10, 1936, printed the following: “‘The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that is the way to bet,’ as Hugh Keough used to say.” Keough was a Chicago journalist.
Do any readers have any other quotations whose origins they would like me to attempt to trace?
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“It is better to be hated for who you are, than loved for who you are not”.
I’ve seen various versions and alterations attributed to a variety of individuals, but you seem like the appropriate “expert” to trace it’s source.
Friends and I disagree about the origin of the book and film title “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” They think it was a phrase in use before the novel. I think the title was actually a deliberate contrast to a pre-existing saying ‘gentlemen prefer brunettes’. (needless to say, I’m the one who prefers brunettes, my friends blondes…) What’s the truth?
My father would always say, “Son, there are 2 things in life no man can avoid; Death & Taxes”.
Where did this originate?
I’ve always wondered about the quote, “Life can either be a comedy or a tragedy.”
The interesting thing about this series is how the quotes get better as they become common knowledge. The originals that you find are usually more awkward than the phrase we all know.
Is it because print allows writers to be detailed and awkward, but the poetic version they use in speaking is remembered?
Or is the game of operator that turns something into a “quote” or “saying” a form of collective, unconscious poetry?
this is something I’ve been saying for years, and I honestly can’t remember whether I came up with it or I heard it somewhere. please help me out: “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.”
“unconscious poetry” is just emotions as agnes nemy nagy would say of the writer of such,
“I think it is the duty of the poet to obtain citizenship for an increasing horde of nameless emotions.”
This attributing of ownership to words and quotations is akin to jurisprudence gaining rightful ownership to a viewpoint of the sun rising over an ocean of thought in less poetic terms.
Nancy Krabbenhoeft
It was the man who got a reprieve from hanging who said, “no noose is good news”. It got later corrupted to “No news is good news.”