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Usenet Posted 21 years ago
Usage

People talking

When I was little, a common, afaict, expression was roughly:

Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, and small people talk about other people.
Can anyone give me the exact quote and who it is attributed to.

I thought searching google would turn it up immediately, but all I have found is:
Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, and small people talk about wine.
Fran Lebowitz, US writer and humorist (1950 - )
s/ meirman
Posting from alt.english.usage

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Top answer

[nq:1]When I was little, a common, afaict, expression was roughly: Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, ... average people talk about things, and small people talk about wine. Fran Lebowitz, US writer and humorist (1950 - )[/nq] I googled talk about ideas things people .

  • [nq:1]When I was little, a common, afaict, expression was roughly: Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, ...
  • average people talk about things, and small people talk about wine.
  • Fran Lebowitz, US writer and humorist (1950 - )[/nq] I googled talk about ideas things people .
  • It came up readily with the Lebowitticism, and on later pages I found the supposed original version being discussed, always as "unknown origin".
  • quotations specifically, it was raised there a few times but no-one knows.
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9 Answers
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[nq:1]When I was little, a common, afaict, expression was roughly: Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, ... average people talk about things, and small people talk about wine. Fran Lebowitz, US writer and humorist (1950 - )[/nq]
I googled talk about ideas things people . It came up readily with the Lebowitticism, and on later pages I found the supposed original vers
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[nq:2]When I was little, a common, afaict, expression was roughly: ... wine. Fran Lebowitz, US writer and humorist (1950 - )[/nq]
[nq:1]I googled talk about ideas things people . It came up readily with the Lebowitticism, and on later pages ... to google groups and alt.quotations specifically, it was raised there a few times but no-one knows. I blame Readers Digest.[/nq]
One has a certain
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[nq:1]When I was little, a common, afaict, expression was roughly: Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, and small people talk about other people.[/nq]
Of course, whoever said it thereby placed himself in the last category.

Richard Yates
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[nq:2]When I was little, a common, afaict, expression was roughly: ... talk about things, and small people talk about other people.[/nq]
[nq:1]Of course, whoever said it thereby placed himself in the last category.[/nq]
You would better say he placed himself in the first category, because categorization of discourse in that way is an idea.
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[nq:2]Of course, whoever said it thereby placed himself in the last category.[/nq]
[nq:1]You would better say he placed himself in the first category, because categorization of discourse in that way is an idea.[/nq]
It may be an idea, but it is not about an idea.

Richard Yates
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[nq:2]You would better say he placed himself in the first category, because categorization of discourse in that way is an idea.[/nq]
[nq:1]It may be an idea, but it is not about an idea.[/nq]
By contrast, yours is about an idea, which makes you great, albeit wrong!

Richard Yates
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[nq:1]category.[/nq]
[nq:2]It may be an idea, but it is not about an idea.[/nq]
[nq:1]By contrast, yours is about an idea, which makes you great, albeit wrong! Richard Yates[/nq]
ROTFLOL
Well, thanks. Even what you all found me was a help.

When I googled I only did ideas and things becaues I couldn't remember for sure the 3rd word. So you straightened that out for me Matti
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[nq:1]When I was little, a common, afaict, expression was roughly: Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, ... and small people talk about wine. Fran Lebowitz, US writer and humorist (1950 - ) s/ meirman Posting from alt.english.usage[/nq]
I remember is as 'minds' not people.
Here's a clue, though with no substantiation:
Ben Franklin.
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[nq:2]I googled talk about ideas things people . It ... a few times but no-one knows. I blame Readers Digest.[/nq]
[nq:1]One has a certain choice of parentage. Googling "small people talk about" tells us that, in various forms mentioning ideas, ... anon.; and this was only on the first page. The vinous version is also claimed for Woody Allen. CDB[/nq]
I can recall having read something lik

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