Ours Is Not To Reason Why Quiz | People

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "Well behaved women rarely make history." This quote is often mistakenly credited to Marilyn Monroe. From which of the following women did it actually originate?

Answer: Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich wrote the saying in an essay called "Vertuous Women Found: New England Ministrial Literature, 1668-1735."

2. While WC Fields is noted as saying, "Any man who hates children and dogs can't be all bad," the actual phrase was stated by Leo Rosten in which of the following settings?

Answer: A tribute dinner

The actual saying is, "Any man who hates dogs and babies can't be all bad." It was an off-the-cuff remark by the up-and-coming humorist as he was introducing Fields at a tribute dinner.

3. Who is the real author of "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step?"

Answer: Lao-Tzu

Often mistaken as a Confucius saying, it was written by Lao-Tzu in "Tao Te Ching."

Kwai Chang Caine is the fictional character played by David Carradine in the television show "Kung Fu."

4. In 1955, an American football coach made a now-infamous comment that made it to the pages of "Sports Illustrated." While another coach is often credited with the saying, who stated? "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."

Answer: Henry "Red" Sanders

The quote was made before the 1956 Rose Bowl where Sanders was coaching the UCLA Bruins against the Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans went on to defeat the Bruins 17-14.

5. "For attractive lips, speak words of kindness" was not spoken by Audrey Hepburn, as erroneously believed, but by a humorist and author. Who wrote these words?

Answer: Sam Levenson

Sam Levenson wrote the phrase in his 1973 book "In One Era And Out The Other." Sean Hepburn Ferrer and Barry Paris wrote variations of the phrase in their biographies of Audrey Hepburn: "Time Tested Beauty Tips" (2005) and "Audrey Hepburn" (1996), respectively.

6. The following phrase is one of many that is mistakenly credited to Marilyn Monroe. Who said, "Women who seek to be equal to men lack ambition"?

Answer: Timothy Leary

No one is immune from giving incorrect credit where it is not due. Even Richard Branson credited the quote to Monroe on his Virgin website on November 1, 2012. Several people in the comments section noted that it was Timothy Leary who made the statement, but to date it has yet to be corrected.

7. There are two people who are often given credit for the saying, "Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 99, wear sunscreen." Neither of them, however, can stake a claim to it. Who first coined the phrase?

Answer: Mary Schmich

Written June 1, 1997 for her column in the "Chicago Tribune," "Guide To Life For Students," it was later expanded and released as a book, "Wear Sunscreen: A Primer For Real Life."

Kurt Vonnegut is believed to have used this quote during a commencement speech at MIT in 1999 and Baz Lurhmann is given credit because of his lyrics for "Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen."

8. Don't be a sucker and believe that P.T. Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute." In fact, he never uttered the phrase. Who did?

Answer: David Hannun

P.T. Barnum's rival, David Hannun is the true originator of this phrase. When Barnum was rebuffed for his offer to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a stone 10-foot giant man believed to be dug up in Cardiff, NY, he had his own statue carved and claimed the statue Hannun had been displaying was a fake. Hannun's comment about suckers was in reference to the people who were paying to see Barnum's fake statue.

The truth is that they both were fake, as Hannun's had been been a stone statue carved by John Hull in an elaborate con.

9. Who created the following phrase? "Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." (Be careful -- it's probably not who you think)

Answer: Mr. Davies

While it can't be contributed to a particular Mr. Davies, what we do know about the earliest documented use of this saying was in a 1938 London journal for municipal and city engineers. The quote from the article is:

"Mr. Davies himself admitted it was highly controversial and open to criticism; but criticism concerned both mind and matter. 'Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind'."

Credit has been given to Dr. Seuss in more recent years.

10. While this next quote is not frequently attributed to the wrong person, it does leave your head scratching as to why it was said. Who said, "Kissing Marilyn (Monroe) was like kissing Hitler"?

Answer: Tony Curtis

In two interviews Curtis gave two different and contrasting reasons as to why he made that comment. In the first, he stated that he was tired of answering questions and made a sarcastic comment that was meant to end the interview with a joke. In the second explanation, he claims he had been angry at Monroe for her failure to keep to schedules and keep to the script -- the comment was a reflection of that anger. Over time, he probably didn't even remember why he said it.

Source: Author kapulani3

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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Ours Is Not To Reason Why Trivia Quiz

Why some people are credited with other people's words is anyone's guess. Here are quotes attributed to the wrong people.

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