Do You Know Who Said It ? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Charlie Brown

'Peanuts' creator Charles M. Schulz was a keen observer of human nature, and Charlie Brown represents his 'average Joe', some days afraid to go out, on other days determined to give life his best shot. He started life in comic strips at about 4 years of age in 1950, and slowly aged to about 8 years old. TV Guide ranked Charlie and his dog Snoopy as among the 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time.

Charles Schulz was, like Charlie Brown, the son of a barber. He became a shy, withdrawn teenager, and it would appear that he imbued his main character with his own self-doubts and shyness. After serving as a Staff Sergeant in World War II, he started experimenting with cartoons, worked hard in developing 'Peanuts' throughout the 1950s, and reached his widest acclaim in the 60s and 70s.

Through Schulz, Charlie, Linus, Snoopy and Lucy have given the world many gems of home-spun philosophy such as, 'All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.'

Answer: Picasso

That quote could sum up Pablo Picasso's life. In addition to the various art movements he was associated with, he was a sculptor, ceramicist, printmaker and theatre designer.

Born and raised in Malaga, Spain, he showed an early aptitude for drawing. His father, an art teacher, gave him his early lessons. He showed little interest in formal art studies, but struck up friendships with contemporary artists such as Munch and Toulouse-Lautrec when he visited Paris. His technique rapidly developed, and soon he was in his Blue, then Rose, Period. He produced African and Primitive - influenced works, followed by his collaboration with Braque as they developed cubism.

Throughout his long life, Picasso was a controversial, though highly respected artist. Some of his work was social comment, exemplified by his huge anti-war oil painting 'Guernica'. He branched out into poetry and tapestry in addition to his painting and sculpting. At his death more than 45,000 unsold works were found on his estate.

Answer: Samuel Goldwyn

Sam Goldwyn was born in Warsaw, and arrived in the USA in 1899 as Samuel Goldfish, the Anglicized version of his birth name, where he found work with a glove manufacturer . By 1913 he had moved to New York City, formed a partnership and started producing motion pictures, whereupon he changed his name to Goldwyn. He became adept at finding talented staff; he employed the best writers, and his partnerships with the directors William Wyler and John Ford resulted in some of his most successful films.

His funniest quotes seem naïve and foolish, such as 'I read part of it all the way through', but he was an extremely shrewd and capable businessman, and his quips were possibly used to lighten negotiations in his dealings, and to catch his target offguard.

Answer: Mae West

To quote a wag of the day, Mae West was "the bad girl who had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong".

A precocious child, West began entertaining at a very early age, encouraged by her mother, who remained her greatest supporter despite family disapproval. As she grew she began challenging the prudery of the day, writing and performing in risque plays. The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice stopped her attempts to open a play on Broadway; however, she used the publicity to enhance her notoriety and marketability.

She broke into movies in 1932 at the age of 39, rewriting her small part in 'Night After Night', and according to George Raft, stole the movie. The rest is movie history. Her quips were legendary (and often very risque). A couple which have often been repeated: 'Marriage is a fine institution, but I'm not ready for an institution.' and 'When I'm good I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better'.

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln, the 16th President, was famous for mocking his own looks. He was described by the author Nathaniel Hawthorne as being "the ugliest man I ever put my eyes on", and Lincoln never had any problem with acknowledging his lack of physical beauty.

He had a ready wit, however, and many of his sayings are still relevant. On happiness he once said, "Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be." His thoughts on the democratic process are also relevant in these troubled times. "There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law."

Answer: Robert G. Ingersoll

Ingersoll, dubbed 'The Great Agnostic', was raised as a son of a devout Congregationalist preacher. Perhaps the main things he learned from his father were oratory and the courage to state his beliefs. He soon rejected conventional religion, despite this placing a limit on his ambitions. He found that agnosticism meant he could not aspire to high political office, but refused to compromise his standards.

He and his brother started a law practice in Illinois, but with the start of the Civil War he raised a Cavalry regiment. After the war, he became Illinois Attorney General. He had a close and lasting friendship with the poet Walt Whitman. Here is another Ingersoll quote: "The man who does not do his own thinking is a slave, and is a traitor to himself and to his fellowmen."

Answer: Winston Churchill

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965) was a paradoxical leader. He was one of the world's greatest orators, rallying nations in a common interest, raising the collective morale of Britons when it was reeling from bombardments and heavy losses. Despite his clarity of vision in directing Britain and its allies through World War II, he held views on women, race, and the lower social classes that were unenlightened even in his own times.

Churchill served in action in India, the Sudan, and the Second Boer War, became a war correspondent and wrote books on his campaigns. He was later to serve as First Lord of the Admiralty before entering politics. His wartime speeches became the stuff of legends. Churchill suffered bouts of depression, and took up painting (mostly landscapes) which helped his mood. He resumed writing in earnest after the war, and was awarded the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values."

Answer: Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking was a brilliant cosmologist, theoretical scientist and author. He gained fame for his controversial theory that black holes emit radiation - later hailed as a breakthrough in science. He propounded a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.

Aged just 21 Hawking was diagnosed with a form of motor neurone disease, which would gradually paralyse his body and rob him of his ability to speak. Through the help of other scientists and engineers he was able to continue communicating to the last with a series of speech synthesizers. Being an atheist did not deprive him of his sense of wonder and delight in the architecture of the universe. He worked towards an understanding of this all his life, and aimed towards instilling the same curiosity in his colleagues and students. He died in March 2018 aged 76.

Answer: Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright, who died aged 84 in 2022, was a highly skilled diplomat with a fine understanding of international politics. Under the Clinton administration she rose to become the first female US Secretary of State.

While she skilfully administered US foreign policy, she urged repeatedly but unsuccessfully for the US to take a more active role in stopping the genocide in Rwanda and the 'ethnic cleansing' in Boznia-Herzegovina. She felt that the US had the muscle to prevent such atrocities. Albright once annoyed a Pentagon chief by asking him why there were more than a million US personnel under arms when they never used them. Nevertheless, her aim was always to prevent war and to promote peaceful outcomes.

Answer: Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra, pro baseball catcher (mostly with the New York Yankees), coach and manager, was an 18-time All-Star, and participated in all 13 World Series won by New York baseball teams between 1947 and 1981. He was also extremely skilful at bat, on five occasions hitting more home runs than strikeouts for the season. As a manager and coach his morale-boosting pep talks were legendary; he rallied the Mets when they were 9.5 games down to the Cubs by convincing them that "It ain't over 'til it's over". They came back to win their way to the 1973 World Series.

A few more 'Yogi-isms' - "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded", "Ninety percent of the game is half mental", and "You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six". Berra died in 2015 aged 90. His indomitable attitude and quirky statements will live a lot longer.