Rees's First Law Of Quotations: When In

People Will Say What They Want To Say, In The Way They Want To.

My Toils In The Quotation Field Have Led Me To Formulate Two Or Three Laws About The Way People Use And Abuse Quotations. My First Law Is: When In Doubt, Ascribe All Quotations To Bernard Shaw - Which I Don't Mean To Be Taken Literally, But As A General Observation Of The Habit People Have Of Attaching Remarks To The Nearest Obvious Speaker. Churchill, Wilde, Orson Welles And Alexander Woollcott Are Other Useful Figures Upon Whom To Father Remarks When You Don't Know Who Really Said Them.

It Is Part Of Politics To Make Things Look Better Than They Really Are. What Is A Spin Doctor But A Serial Euphemiser?

Lord Castlerosse Was Taken To Task By Nancy Astor Over The Size Of His Stomach. 'what Would You Say If That Was On A Woman?' She Asked, Pointedly. 'half An Hour Ago It Was,' He Replied.

I Am Only Too Aware That I Am Open To Rees's Second Law Of Quotation: "however Sure You Are That You Have Attributed A Quotation Correctly, An Earlier Source Will Be Pointed Out To You."