The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When [Paperback]

Ralph Keyes (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 30, 2006

Our language is full of hundreds of quotations that are often cited but seldom confirmed. Ralph Keyes's The Quote Verifier considers not only classic misquotes such as "Nice guys finish last," and "Play it again, Sam," but more surprising ones such as "Ain't I a woman?" and "Golf is a good walk spoiled," as well as the origins of popular sayings such as "The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings," "No one washes a rented car," and "Make my day."

Keyes's in-depth research routinely confounds widespread assumptions about who said what, where, and when. Organized in easy-to-access dictionary form, The Quote Verifier also contains special sections highlighting commonly misquoted people and genres, such as Yogi Berra and Oscar Wilde, famous last words, and misremembered movie lines.

An invaluable resource for not just those with a professional need to quote accurately, but anyone at all who is interested in the roots of words and phrases, The Quote Verifier is not only a fascinating piece of literary sleuthing, but also a great read.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (May 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312340044
• ISBN-13: 978-0312340049
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #92 in Books > Education & Reference > Quotations

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The research in Ralph Keyes' The Quote Verifier is impressive, and each conclusion is like the solution to a real-life historical mystery. Who knew a reference book could be so entertaining?"
--Will Shortz, Crossword Puzzle Editor of The New York Times

"Ralph Keyes has made it his mission to hunt down and expose false quotations, and in The Quote Verifier he does that brilliantly. The Quote Verifier is a much needed corrective to the countless 'quotations' that are misquoted, falsely attributed, or downright wrong. Keyes takes apart with surgical precision every dubious quotation, old and new. In the process, he tells engagingly the stories behind the quotes, stories that are often surprisingly funny and always interesting."
--Sol Steinmetz, co-author of The Life of Language

"Nice Guys Finish Seventh established Ralph Keyes as one of our leading quote sleuthers. With The Quote Verifier, he's become our verifier-in-chief. If you want to know who actually said what, this book is indispensable."
--Rosalie Maggio, author of The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women

"Quotations are powerful tools. Michel de Montaigne, the father of all essayists, observed, 'I quote others only to better express myself.' Intrepid quotations detective Ralph Keyes helps us to discover the clear truth about exactly what was said and who exactly said it."
--Richard Lederer, author of Word Wizard

"Quotation tracers will find this an excellent book to consult. It provides all the known details about authorship and wording of a large number of quotes, maxims, observations, slogans, comments, and catch phrases. But this is not simply a reference work. Reading it is a real pleasure. The book is easy to use. Quotes are arranged alphabetically by key word and source references are provided in meticulous detail. As a valuable new scholarly resource, The Quote Verifier will take its place alongside standard books of quotations."
--Anthony Shipps, author of The Quote Sleuth

"'I never said half the things I said,' Yogi Berra said. Or did he? Ralph Keyes' The Quote Verifier is an invaluable and irresistible resource for determining the provenance of dubious quotations. These have always been around, but with the rise of the internet, on which anyone can attribute anything to anybody, they're spreading at a terrifying pace. Thanks, Keyes, we needed that."
--Ben Yagoda, author of About Town

About the Author

Ralph Keyes's books include The Post-Truth Era, The Courage to Write, and Is There Life After High School? He lives in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (May 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312340044
• ISBN-13: 978-0312340049
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #92 in Books > Education & Reference > Quotations

More About the Author

Ralph Keyes's sixteen books include the bestselling Is There Life After High School? which became a Broadway musical still produced in this country and abroad. His book Chancing It was a New York Times Notable Book, and The Courage to Write has been in print for 15 years. Keyes has discussed his work on Oprah, The Today Show, Tonight Show, ABC World News Tonight and 20/20 as well as NPR's Fresh Air, All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation, and On the Media. In addition to his books he has written hundreds of articles and essays for publications ranging from GQ to Good Housekeeping. An article Keyes co-authored for the Harvard Business Review won its prestigious McKinsey Award for Best Article of the Year. After graduating from Antioch College in 1967 Keyes spent was Assistant to the Publisher of Long Island's Newsday for two years. After that he spent a decade as a Fellow of the Center for Studies of the Person in La Jolla, California, then worked as a freelance writer in the Philadelphia area Keyes now lives in Yellow Springs, Ohio with his wife Muriel where he writes, lectures, and is a Trustee of the Antioch Writers' Workshop.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You Can Quote Me on This June 28, 2006

By Beckman Communications

Format:Paperback

Two years ago, my co-workers made fun of me because I tried to use the word "eponymous" in a news release. They deleted it, saying that no one knows what that word means anymore. One of the many things I like about Ralph Keyes is that he uses words like "eponymous" -- and he expects that you'll know what it means, too. Keyes' writing will either teach you some really cool words to use at cocktail parties -- or make you wish that you had paid more attention during your 8th-grade vocabulary class.

With Quote Verifier (QV), Keyes has added more fodder to the quote mill, which he kicked off with his Nice Guys Finish Seventh. QV can be read from beginning to end, or it can be read non-linearly as a reference.

Who originally came up with "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."? Kennedy? Which one? Neither, actually. You'll find this under the alphabetical listings under ASK, where you'll find that Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said something remarkably similar 80 years before JFK did. There's an entire section (under the "Ks") devoted to the Kennedys, especially John and Robert. Having grown up in Massachusetts, I was often treated to "Kennedyisms." John Kennedy usually cited his sources. Bobby often cited John and Ted credited Bobby.

Also, as a former and unreformed New Englander, I was ecstatic to see that theologian Reinhold Niebuhr was correctly credited for his "Serenity Prayer," as opposed to "anonymous," which I so often see. (Niebuhr's widow lived up the street from me and was the speaker at my high school graduation.) However, "Shays' Rebellion" was spelled "Shay's Rebellion," a mistake commonly made in the Midwest.... Daniel Shays hasn't been quoted for saying anything remarkable, or I'm sure Keyes would have gotten his name right.

The book is organized in a very user-friendly manner. The key words in each quote are in all caps and the quotes are listed alphabetically according to the key words. An index in the back directs you to the people who said -- or didn't -- what you're trying to find. Also in the back is a key word index directing you to the quote.

If you sit down and read this book linearly as I did, a few things are bound to happen:

1) You'll hear people cited for things all over the place for things they didn't think up first. Coincidentally, I was reading the section about an army travelling on its stomach when someone made reference to it on television (attributing it incorrectly to Napoleon, as most people do according to Keyes).

2) You'll be afraid to quote anyone for fear of getting it wrong.

3) You'll wonder how long Keyes worked on digging up each quote's source. His sources range from Celestial Seasonings tea boxes and Reader's Digest (which I am going to take with a grain of salt now) to university libraries and tottering biographers of celebrities of centuries past. If someone ever found the ancient libraries of Alexandria, Keyes would be the first in line to check out who really said that an army travels on its stomach. It's kind of scary.

I wouldn't want this to be a library book that I had to return. I would want it on hand, where I could refer to it frequently and react with my notes in the margins. This book would be a good purchase for people who like to use quotes (in speeches, newsletters, classes) and want to be correct. It would make a great reference for any student or writer, as well as anyone who wants to know more about the history of our favorite expressions. Read more ›

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Verifiably Excellent July 22, 2006

By Paul Kocak

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was so impressed with a newspaper feature on Ralph Keyes's The Quote Verifier that I ordered the book right away. I was not disappointed. There are few books I have ever encountered that are more thoroughly researched -- and so entertaining. The book is either a conversation starter (or spoiler, depending on your audience). Keyes delights in debunking commonly held assumptions about famous quotes, but there's no malice. Just meticulous and entertaining research. He points out the evolution of quotations (often much like the children's game of Telephone). I love how this wonderful reference is organized: alphabetically according to key words, interspersed with special sections on those who are frequently quoted, and a "verdict" at the end of each entry to help the reader reach a decision on a quote's origin or evolution). Thus, a special section on Yogi Berra tracks down a bunch of alleged "Yogi-isms." You might be surprised. I was. Gems abound a nearly every page. And the research is cited in a way that makes it fun to learn the origin of a phrase (or the lack of such knowledge). An example is the famous phrase "Iron Curtain." It is commonly known that Winston Churchill used that phrase in a 1946 sppech about Soviet influence. But Keyes exhaustively points out a whole bunch of similar uses that occurred much earlier. Then he gives a verdict: "Many authors, one key publicist -- Winston Churchill." I loved reading the blurb on the phrase "fifteen minutes of fame" (is it Andy Warhol's? Hey, I don't want to give away the juicy tidbits) and on the phrase "May you live in interesting times" (is it really of Chineses origin?). And so many others. Keyes's book has delighted me so much I recently found it a worthy companion on a long trip.... I recommend this book to teachers and professors (even just to educate students in acquiring a healthy skepticism), news reporters and editors, talk show hosts, and anyone interested in history or good conversation. It should be on every library shelf, both public and private. Read more ›

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth Every Penny August 15, 2006

By Phillip G. Knightley

Format:Paperback

This book does exactly what the title says it does. All those quotes you use from time to time and never know the source are now a thing of the past. I wrote a book once called "The First Casualty", taken from the quote "The first casualty when war comes is truth." I looked it up in this book and there it all was--who said it, where and when and an assessment of the value to place on each attribution. The book is worth every penny you pay for it.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Right Verifier July 20, 2006

By L. Longfellow

Format:Paperback

I could not have imagined a reference book that reads like a novel. Fortunately, Ralph Keyes could. An exceptional accomplishment.

Layne Longfellow, Ph.D., Author, Longfellow Reads Longfellow

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Kindle edition is nearly useless March 22, 2013

By jkcamb

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The book itself, as other reviewers have indicated, seems to be outstanding. But the Kindle edition is a disaster. If one wants to look up a quote, keyword and author indexes are vital to finding anything. They are disabled on the Kindle -- nice lists of keywords and names, but no links, no page numbers, no other way to get to the entries. Even "start of entry for each letter" entries in the Table of Contents would help, but it goes directly from "The Quotes" on page 1 to "Bibliography" on page 259. There is a note at the top of the Key Word Index that says that the index in the print version doesn't match that pages of the eBook and then suggests using "the search function on the eReading device to search for terms of interest..." but an attempt to use the Kindle's search function produces a "Title not yet indexed" error message.

Almost totally useless -- buy the printed book or make another plan.