“A likely story — and probably true.”

— Groucho Marx

The Al Jolson Show repartee following a trite, scripted Al Jolson joke. (1949)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "A likely story — and probably true." by Groucho Marx?

Groucho Marx 117

American comedian 1890–1977

Related quotes

“The confidence we experience as we make a judgment is not a reasoned evaluation of the probability that it is right. Confidence is a feeling, one determined mostly by the coherence of the story and by the ease with which it comes to mind, even when the evidence for the story is sparse and unreliable. The bias toward coherence favors overconfidence. An individual who expresses high confidence probably has a good story, which may or may not be true.”

Daniel Kahneman (1934) Israeli-American psychologist

Don’t Blink! The Hazards of Confidence, The New York Times, 19 October 2011, 15 May 2014 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/magazine/dont-blink-the-hazards-of-confidence.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0,
"Don't Blink! The Hazards of Confidence" (2011)

“Reality is not always probable, or likely. But if you're writing a story, you have to make it as plausible as you can, because if not, the reader's imagination will reject it.”

Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, and a key figure in Spanish language literature

Discussion published in the Columbia Forum and later quoted in Worldwide Laws of Life : 200 Eternal Spiritual Principles (1998) by John Templeton

“There is no story that is not true.”

Chinua Achebe book Things Fall Apart

Source: Things Fall Apart

“The Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history.”

Will Durant book The Story of Civilization

Will Durant, The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage page 459.
The Story of Civilization (1935–1975), I - Our Oriental Heritage (1935)
Context: The Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precious good, whose delicate complex of order and freedom, culture and peace, can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within.

“All the stories are true”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Source: City of Bones

“All stories are true.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

The Name of the Wind

“All Stories are True.”

John Edgar Wideman (1941) Fiction writer, memoirist, essayist

“that story is 93% true”

Ezra Koenig (1984) American rock musician

In reply to his previous tweet on Twitter

“The true story is vicious and multiple and untrue after all. Why do you need it? Don’t ever ask for the true story.”

Margaret Atwood (1939) Canadian writer

“Stories are a different kind of true.”

Emma Donoghue Room

Source: Room (novel) (2010)
Context: "Are stories true?"
"Which ones?"
"The mermaid mother and Hansel and Gretel and all them."
"Well," says Ma, "not literally."
"What's—"
"They're magic, they're not about real people walking around today."
"So they're fake?"
"No, no. Stories are a different kind of true."

“A likely story — and probably true.”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Groucho Marx 117

Related quotes

Related topics