Photo: Sukanto DebnathEach week, I’ve been inviting readers to submit quotations whose origins they want me to try to trace, using my book, The Yale Book of Quotations, and my more recent research. Here is the latest round.
Keith Hernandez asked:
My father would always say, “Son, there are 2 things in life no man can avoid; Death & Taxes.” Where did this originate?
This is usually attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who said “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes” in a letter to Jean Baptiste Le Roy, Nov. 13, 1789. However, Franklin was repeating a preexisting proverb. The Yale Book of Quotations records “‘Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes” from Christopher Bullock, The Cobler of Preston (1716), and “Death and taxes, they are certain” from Edward Ward, The Dancing Devils (1724).
Mike M asked:
“Curiosity killed the cat.” This has never made sense to me and I’d like to know where it comes from.
It seems pretty clear that it is a proverb referring to cats’ well-known inquisitiveness, and the fact that sometimes that inquisitiveness gets them into trouble.
Carl asked:
I’ve always heard that this quote was attributed to Josef Stalin, “The Pope? How many divisions does he have?”
The Yale Book of Quotations cites Winston Churchill, The Gathering Storm (1948), in which Churchill quotes Stalin, when asked by French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval to encourage Catholicism in the Soviet Union in order to appease the Pope, May 13, 1935, responding: “The Pope? How many divisions has he got?”
Rupert Millard asked:
Is it “out in the sticks” or “out in the Styx”? Google has 130k hits for the former compared to 2.1k for the latter, which I nevertheless prefer. Many thanks!
It’s “out in the sticks.”
j.b.garrity asked:
can you tell me the origin of “the lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client”?
This is another proverb. The YBQ‘s earliest version is “He who will be his own Counsellor, shall be sure to have a fool for his client” (William De Britaine, Humane Prudence [1702]).
Do any readers have any other quotations whose origins they would like me to attempt to trace?
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“A stopped clock and Glen Beck are both right twice a day.
And Beck is having a stupid argument with the clock.”
“The meek shall inherit the earth when the arrogant are done despoiling it.”
“Absolute power is a joy forever. Constant opinion polling corrupts absolutely.”
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“Behind every great man is a codependent.”
“A woman’s place is in the driver’s seat.”
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“When a star falls an angel goes to hell. When a star falls in Hollywood he goes to rehab, then straight to Spagos in a limo.”
“A penny saved is worth about two birds in the bush.”
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“The old saw no longer makes the cut.”
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“All work and no play makes Jack a John D. Rockefeller.”
“The new broom knows not of what it sweeps.”
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“Rock stars give passes to girls who’re fun lasses.”
When Dorothy Parker, known for nuggety quotes, was
challenged to say something quotable about horticulture,
her mordant wit sprang like a panther:
“You can lead a horticulture but you can’t make her think.”
I’ve got two.
1. “Johnny on the spot”
2. “There’s the rub.” I heard it in the movie Swingers and then realized it came from Hamlet’s famous soliloquy. Does it go back further than that? Or did Shakespeare create this phrase?
My father always says “I need to see a man about a horse” in order to indicate that he’s going to the restroom. He attributes it to the Three Stooges, but it’s unclear whether that’s original utterance, or the intended meaning.