Who said What (and sometimes Where, When and Why)

(4,547 entries and counting, updated March, 2008)

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This is a large collection, containing thousands of quotes by hundreds of speakers. The brief biographies, where included, are intented to put thing in some basic context. They are not intentionally composed to impart political or other bias in the speaker, regardless of what you have been told by Bigfoot or by space aliens from Atlantis.

While this collection is alphabetical by definition, it is also somethat random in terms of who the speaker is and what they are saying. That's part of the fun. There's a lot of ground to cover between Douglas Adams and Frank Zappa.

I have included years and sources in many cases, though not in all. The complement to this collection is number 21, Alpha by Subject - most published collections are indexed either by author or subject.

Page down for the annotated index. Enjoy browsing.

• A    Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so. - Douglas Adams
            (399 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

• B    Comedy is tragedy plus time. - Carol Burnett
            (361 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

• C    Rewards and punishments are the lowest form of education. - Chuang-Tzu
            (314 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

• D    It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. - Arthur Conan Doyle
            (147 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2

• E    Never judge a book by its movie. - J.W. Eagan
            (171 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2

• F    A good many dramatic situations begin with screaming. - Jane Fonda
            (144 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2

• G    Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist ought to have his head examined. - Samuel Goldwyn
            (149 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2

• H    As you journey through life take a minute every now and then to give a thought for the other fellow. He could be plotting something. - Hagar the Horrible
            (186 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2

• I    Last night I dreamed I had insomnia. I woke up exhausted, yet too well rested to go back to sleep. - Bob Ingman
            (13 entries)     Part 1

• J    The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper. - Thomas Jefferson
            (90 entries)     Part 1

• K    Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics. - Fletcher Knebel
            (75 entries)     Part 1

• L    Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful. - Ann Landers
            (96 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2

• M    I worked myself up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty. - Groucho Marx
            (298 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

• N    We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. - Anais Nin
            (44 entries)     Part 1

• O    Never fight an inanimate object. - P. J. O'Rourke
            (37 entries)     Part 1

• P    Things are not always what they seem. - Phaedrus
            (161 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2

• Q    Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things. - Dan Quayle
            (37 entries)     Part 1

• R    You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake. - Jeannette Rankin
            (141 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2

• S    All life's answers are on TV. - Homer Simpson
            (214 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

• T    The more you read and learn, the less your adversary will know.
         - Sun Tzu
            (469 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

• U    School is where you go between when your parents can't take you and industry can't take you.
         - John Updike
            (32 entries)     Part 1
  
  
• V    It might be a good idea if the various countries of the world would occasionally swap history books, just to see what other people are doing with the same set of facts.
         - Bill Vaughan
            (167 entries)     Part 1
  
  
• W    Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise.
         - Alice Walker
            (637 entries)     Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

• X    If you're not ready to die for it, take the word "freedom" out of your vocabulary.
         - Malcolm X
            (19 entries)     Part 1
  
  
• Y    When there are too many policemen, there can be no liberty.
           When there are too many soldiers, there can be no peace.
           When there are too many lawyers, there can be no justice.
         - Lin Yutang
            (91 entries)     Part 1
  
  
• Z    Tobacco is my favorite vegetable.
         - Frank Zappa
            (55 entries)     Part 1