“I don't think that I will plunge the nation into war by stating that Fred Astaire is the greatest tap-dancer in the world.”

— Fred Astaire

Robert Benchley in "Hail to the King!!" The New Yorker, November 29, 1930, pp. 33-36. (M).

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from Lorenz Hart's lyric to "Do it the Hard Way" from Pal Joey.

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As quoted in New York Times (25 October 1970)

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