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Colleagues

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, 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, 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, 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, co-author, Comma Sense

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, The Quote Sleuth

"I never said half the things I said," Yogi Berra said. Or did he?  Ralph Keyes's 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, About Town

The Quote Verifier is an amazing work of scholarship, selectivity, clarity and organization. Moreover, it's a delight to read. Many of these familiar quotes take on new significance once their true or most likely source is known. And the book is so easy it is to use: the highlighting and alphabetizing of key words in the text, the indexing of those words and the authors, the sidebars of important authors. Having edited the Quotationary, I especially appreciate the detailed sourcing of the quotes.  Keyes's efforts in producing this book really paid off for it is now the gold standard of quote-verification books.

Leonard Roy Frank, Editor, Random House Webster’s Quotationary

Really an outstanding book.

Fred Shapiro, Editor, Yale Book of Quotations

The Quote Verifier is an instant necessity and great fun. 

T. George Harris, former editor, Psychology Today

The Quote Verifier was invaluable to me in composing my own book of Winston Churchill quotations: not only its factual information, but Ralph Keyes's skill, methodology and organization. I hope my effort will be half as good in those respects.

Richard Langworth, Editor, Winston Churchill by Himself