“If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; but if you really make them think, they'll hate you.”

As quoted in The Volta Review (1934), p. 574 http://books.google.de/books?id=qWE4AQAAIAAJ&q=hate, Clifton Fadiman: The American Treasury 1455-1955 (New York 1955) p. 997 http://books.google.de/books?id=PEQ4AAAAIAAJ&q=really+make+them and Hugh Rawson, Margaret Miner: The Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations (2006) p. 431 #5 http://books.google.de/books?id=whg05Z4Nwo0C&pg=PA431&dq=mehitabel from archy and mehitabel (1927)

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Do you have more details about the quote "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; but if you really make them think, they'll hate you." by Harlan Ellison?
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Harlan Ellison 79
American writer 1934–2018

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“If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you.”

Don Marquis (1878–1937) American writer

As quoted in The Volta Review (1934), p. 574 http://books.google.de/books?id=qWE4AQAAIAAJ&q=hate, Clifton Fadiman: The American Treasury 1455-1955 (New York 1955) p. 997 http://books.google.de/books?id=PEQ4AAAAIAAJ&q=really+make+them and Hugh Rawson, Margaret Miner: The Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations (2006) p. 431 #5 http://books.google.de/books?id=whg05Z4Nwo0C&pg=PA431&dq=mehitabel from archy and mehitabel (1927)
Variant: If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; but if you really make them think, they'll hate you.

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“If you're going to tell people the truth, you better make them laugh; otherwise they'll kill you.”

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If you are going to tell people the truth, you'd better make them laugh. Otherwise, they'll kill you.
If you're going to tell people the truth, you'd better make them laugh. Otherwise, they'll kill you.
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