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Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes
From Hank Aaron to King Zog, Mao Tse-Tung to Madonna, Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes features more than 2,000 people from around the world, past and present, in all fields. These short anecdotes provide remarkable insight into the human character. Ranging from the humorous to the tearful, they span classical history, recent politics, modern science and the arts.
Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes is a gold mine for anyone who gives speeches, is doing research, or simply likes to browse. As an informal tour of history and human nature at its most entertaining & instructive, this is sure to be a perennial favorite for years to come.
Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes is a gold mine for anyone who gives speeches, is doing research, or simply likes to browse. As an informal tour of history and human nature at its most entertaining & instructive, this is sure to be a perennial favorite for years to come.
800 pages, Hardcover
First published September 21, 2000
45 people are currently reading
154 people want to read
About the author
Clifton Fadiman
223 books37 followersClifton Paul "Kip" Fadiman was an American intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 1, 2016
I have confessed on previous occasions that I like to read dictionaries, chipping away at them a page or two at a go. I also like to do the same thing with collections of anecdotes, and as it turns out that I have just finished one. The plotting is terrible, and it is hard to keep track of all the characters, but the payoff is more immediate than it is with the regular dictionaries. So all I intend to do here is share a few of the anecdotes . . .
On a train journey to Bath, Halifax shared a compartment with two rather prim-looking middle-aged ladies. All three were strangers to one another, and the journey passed in silence until the train went through a tunnel. In the total darkness of the compartment, Halifax placed a number of noisy kisses on the back of his hand. As the train emerged from the tunnel, the former ambassador turned to his companions and asked, "To which of you charming ladies am I indebted for the delightful incident in the tunnel?"
Shortly after the 1912 presidential election, [Woodrow] Wilson visited an aged aunt whom he had not seen for some time. "What are you doing these days, Woodrow?" she asked. "I've just been elected President," replied Wilson. "Oh, yes? President of what?" inquired the aunt. "Of the United States." The old lady snorted impatiently. "Don't be silly!" she said.
A charming American woman was seated next to [T.S.] Eliot at a dinner. The company drank good wine, the conversation was excellent, and after a while Eliot asked his companion to call him "Tom." "Oh, I couldn't," she said. "You were required reading."
Charlie Chaplin entered a Charlie Chaplin look-alike competition in Monte Carlo. He came in third.
During a visit to America, Churchill was invited to a buffet luncheon at which cold fried chicken was served. Returning for a second helping, he asked politely, "May I have some breast?" "Mr. Churchill," replied his hostess, "in this country we ask for white meat or dark meat." Churchill apologized profusely. The following morning, the lady received a magnificent orchid from her guest of honor. The accompanying card read: "I would be most obliged if you would pin this on your white meat."
On a train journey to Bath, Halifax shared a compartment with two rather prim-looking middle-aged ladies. All three were strangers to one another, and the journey passed in silence until the train went through a tunnel. In the total darkness of the compartment, Halifax placed a number of noisy kisses on the back of his hand. As the train emerged from the tunnel, the former ambassador turned to his companions and asked, "To which of you charming ladies am I indebted for the delightful incident in the tunnel?"
Shortly after the 1912 presidential election, [Woodrow] Wilson visited an aged aunt whom he had not seen for some time. "What are you doing these days, Woodrow?" she asked. "I've just been elected President," replied Wilson. "Oh, yes? President of what?" inquired the aunt. "Of the United States." The old lady snorted impatiently. "Don't be silly!" she said.
A charming American woman was seated next to [T.S.] Eliot at a dinner. The company drank good wine, the conversation was excellent, and after a while Eliot asked his companion to call him "Tom." "Oh, I couldn't," she said. "You were required reading."
Charlie Chaplin entered a Charlie Chaplin look-alike competition in Monte Carlo. He came in third.
During a visit to America, Churchill was invited to a buffet luncheon at which cold fried chicken was served. Returning for a second helping, he asked politely, "May I have some breast?" "Mr. Churchill," replied his hostess, "in this country we ask for white meat or dark meat." Churchill apologized profusely. The following morning, the lady received a magnificent orchid from her guest of honor. The accompanying card read: "I would be most obliged if you would pin this on your white meat."
August 1, 2016
I probably read this much too fast, but it was just too much fun--a collection of thousands of anecdotes, ranging from the quirky to the tragic, from the witty to the hilarious. A lot of them were downright scandalous, and reading this book as fast as I did made me feel I'd imbibed rather too much off-colour gossip.
That said, there was a good deal of excellent stuff in here which I mean to pirate in the course of my profession as an author. If you want one character to behave with devil-may-care contempt during a duel, or another to carry off an awkward situation with superb wit, don't rely on your own poor wits--look up Bartlett's Anecdotes. My imagination is much the richer for it.
(About 80% of the lengthy entry on GK Chesterton was devoted to fat jokes. XD Bless him).
That said, there was a good deal of excellent stuff in here which I mean to pirate in the course of my profession as an author. If you want one character to behave with devil-may-care contempt during a duel, or another to carry off an awkward situation with superb wit, don't rely on your own poor wits--look up Bartlett's Anecdotes. My imagination is much the richer for it.
(About 80% of the lengthy entry on GK Chesterton was devoted to fat jokes. XD Bless him).
May 6, 2016
Check dates
Love the book but since when was dictator Franko born in 1829 and died in 1975. This was funnier than any story in it.
Love the book but since when was dictator Franko born in 1829 and died in 1975. This was funnier than any story in it.
June 13, 2010
I love this book. So may characters that shaped history with so many stories to tell. Example, Voltaire was invited by some Parisians to participate in an orgy. He accepted and his hosts were happy enough with his participation that they invited him the very next night at which Voltaire responded, "Ah, no, my friends; once a philosopher, twice a pervert." Great gems like this that make these famous individuals standing on pedestals, real and down to earth. I often reference this book and get a kick out of the anecdotes.
October 29, 2023
Like The Oxford English Dictionary, Bartlett's Book of Quotations, and Asimov's Book of Facts, Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes isn't to be read extensively at any given setting. I find this book best read for about 15 minutes at a time. It's a very large book filled with priceless gems ranging from tragic, to hilarious, to thought-provoking comments and observations of the human condition. It's a great book for augmenting interesting conversations, research, and for making speeches. This book should be in every serious reader's library.
December 20, 2022
Though perhaps better known for their book of quotations, Bartlett’s has compiled thousands of anecdotes from the famous and the lesser known alike, from all periods of history. Some are unusual, others are very funny, and all show something of the personalities involved. Actually I haven’t finished yet, as the book is 589 pages long (plus bibliography, indices and sources), and I had to return it to the library. But I found it ideal reading before bedtime, or when pressed for time, and have every intention of requesting it again at another time.
April 3, 2025
What is an anecdote? The term is borrowed from the French, but it derives from the Greek word for 'things not given out'. That is, unpublished.
Anecdotes are well-worn, and in circulation, attributions can be mixed up, dates changed, and the point of the story lost. For example, the George Best anecdote: 'I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered' is derived from one by the actor George Raft.
Should you read this cover to cover? I did, but often in 30-minute chunks.
Thematically it is all over the place, but I do not see how else the books could have been structured. There is also a bias to the United States: I understand because this is an American reference work but I was not interested in lots of the American ones.
These are my favourite anecdotes:
1. “How would you feel if you were told that your daughter was having an affair?” a reporter asked Carter. “Shocked and overwhelmed,” he replied, adding, “but then, she’s only seven years old.”
2. After being driven from his throne in 1952, Farouk remarked bitterly, “One day there will be only five kings left: hearts, spades, diamonds, clubs, and England.”
3. The cook asked how many eggs he wanted. With an aristocrat’s ignorance of the usual number of eggs for such a dish, Condorcet ordered a dozen. Suspicions aroused, the taverner demanded his trade. “Carpenter,” lied Condorcet. The man snatched the fugitive’s hands and studied them. “You’re no carpenter,” he declared, and Condorcet was dragged off to prison.
4. Gardner churned out stories for pulp magazines at the rate of two hundred thousand words a month. As he was paid by the word, the length of the story was more important to him than its quality, and he tended to draw the maximum potential from every incident. His villains, for example, were always killed by the last bullet in the gun.
5. He once bet the wealthy John Drake, whose family founded Drake University, $11,000. The wager turned on whose bread, dunked in coffee, would attract the most flies. Gates won. He had not bothered to let young Drake know that he had put six spoonfuls of sugar in his own cup.
6. Fauré was once asked what the ideal tempo for a song should be. He replied, “If the singer is bad — very fast.”
7. To a lady admirer who persisted in searching for hidden meanings in Corot’s pictures, he replied: “Non, madame, la peinture est plus bête que cela” (No, madame, painting is too stupid for that).
8. During his years of poverty Balzac lived in an unheated and almost unfurnished garret. On one of the bare walls the writer inscribed the words: “Rosewood paneling with commode”; on another: “Gobelin tapestry with Venetian mirror”; and in the place of honor over the empty fireplace: “Picture by Raphael.”
9. Once when Francis I was playing tennis with a monk as a partner, the monk hit a fine stroke that decided the set in Francis’s favor. The king applauded his partner: “That is the stroke of a monk!” “Sire,” said the man of God, “whenever it shall please you, it shall be the stroke of an abbot.” Francis took the hint and the monk received his preferment.
10. In the 1948 presidential contest between Truman and Dewey, the latter looked like a winner. On election night, Dewey asked his wife, “How will it be to sleep with the President of the United States?” She replied, “A high honor, and quite frankly, darling, I’m looking forward to it.” Next morning, at breakfast, after Dewey’s defeat, Mrs. Dewey said, “Tell me, Tom, am I going to Washington or is Harry coming here?”
11. Madame de Gaulle was asked what she was looking forward to in the years ahead. “A penis,” she replied without hesitation. The embarrassed silence that followed was finally broken by the former president. “My dear,” he murmured, “I think the English don’t pronounce the word quite like that. It’s ‘ ’appiness.’ ”.
12. Crenshaw tried to compete in the British Open of 1992 but failed to qualify. After his loss he entered a pub near the course, where the barkeep asked what he could bring him. “Arsenic,” replied the dejected golfer.
13. “Earth, receive an honoured guest” — a line from Auden’s elegy for W. B. Yeats.
14. One of Brown’s first important appearances as a lecturer was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He noticed by the light of the slide projector that someone in the room was mimicking his every gesture. At length he broke off, announcing with dignity that if anyone was not enjoying the lecture he was free to leave. Nobody did, and the mimicking continued. It was only after another ten minutes that Brown realized that the mimic was his own shadow.
15. One morning he quietly finished his tea, and was found a few minutes later in his bed, dead. In his hands was a farewell letter written forty-five years earlier by the only woman he had ever loved.
Will I read this book again? Definitely not (too too too long). Will I cherish some of these anecdotes? Definitely.
Anecdotes are well-worn, and in circulation, attributions can be mixed up, dates changed, and the point of the story lost. For example, the George Best anecdote: 'I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered' is derived from one by the actor George Raft.
Should you read this cover to cover? I did, but often in 30-minute chunks.
Thematically it is all over the place, but I do not see how else the books could have been structured. There is also a bias to the United States: I understand because this is an American reference work but I was not interested in lots of the American ones.
These are my favourite anecdotes:
1. “How would you feel if you were told that your daughter was having an affair?” a reporter asked Carter. “Shocked and overwhelmed,” he replied, adding, “but then, she’s only seven years old.”
2. After being driven from his throne in 1952, Farouk remarked bitterly, “One day there will be only five kings left: hearts, spades, diamonds, clubs, and England.”
3. The cook asked how many eggs he wanted. With an aristocrat’s ignorance of the usual number of eggs for such a dish, Condorcet ordered a dozen. Suspicions aroused, the taverner demanded his trade. “Carpenter,” lied Condorcet. The man snatched the fugitive’s hands and studied them. “You’re no carpenter,” he declared, and Condorcet was dragged off to prison.
4. Gardner churned out stories for pulp magazines at the rate of two hundred thousand words a month. As he was paid by the word, the length of the story was more important to him than its quality, and he tended to draw the maximum potential from every incident. His villains, for example, were always killed by the last bullet in the gun.
5. He once bet the wealthy John Drake, whose family founded Drake University, $11,000. The wager turned on whose bread, dunked in coffee, would attract the most flies. Gates won. He had not bothered to let young Drake know that he had put six spoonfuls of sugar in his own cup.
6. Fauré was once asked what the ideal tempo for a song should be. He replied, “If the singer is bad — very fast.”
7. To a lady admirer who persisted in searching for hidden meanings in Corot’s pictures, he replied: “Non, madame, la peinture est plus bête que cela” (No, madame, painting is too stupid for that).
8. During his years of poverty Balzac lived in an unheated and almost unfurnished garret. On one of the bare walls the writer inscribed the words: “Rosewood paneling with commode”; on another: “Gobelin tapestry with Venetian mirror”; and in the place of honor over the empty fireplace: “Picture by Raphael.”
9. Once when Francis I was playing tennis with a monk as a partner, the monk hit a fine stroke that decided the set in Francis’s favor. The king applauded his partner: “That is the stroke of a monk!” “Sire,” said the man of God, “whenever it shall please you, it shall be the stroke of an abbot.” Francis took the hint and the monk received his preferment.
10. In the 1948 presidential contest between Truman and Dewey, the latter looked like a winner. On election night, Dewey asked his wife, “How will it be to sleep with the President of the United States?” She replied, “A high honor, and quite frankly, darling, I’m looking forward to it.” Next morning, at breakfast, after Dewey’s defeat, Mrs. Dewey said, “Tell me, Tom, am I going to Washington or is Harry coming here?”
11. Madame de Gaulle was asked what she was looking forward to in the years ahead. “A penis,” she replied without hesitation. The embarrassed silence that followed was finally broken by the former president. “My dear,” he murmured, “I think the English don’t pronounce the word quite like that. It’s ‘ ’appiness.’ ”.
12. Crenshaw tried to compete in the British Open of 1992 but failed to qualify. After his loss he entered a pub near the course, where the barkeep asked what he could bring him. “Arsenic,” replied the dejected golfer.
13. “Earth, receive an honoured guest” — a line from Auden’s elegy for W. B. Yeats.
14. One of Brown’s first important appearances as a lecturer was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He noticed by the light of the slide projector that someone in the room was mimicking his every gesture. At length he broke off, announcing with dignity that if anyone was not enjoying the lecture he was free to leave. Nobody did, and the mimicking continued. It was only after another ten minutes that Brown realized that the mimic was his own shadow.
15. One morning he quietly finished his tea, and was found a few minutes later in his bed, dead. In his hands was a farewell letter written forty-five years earlier by the only woman he had ever loved.
Will I read this book again? Definitely not (too too too long). Will I cherish some of these anecdotes? Definitely.
October 5, 2023
This book is absolutely fantastic! I read it cover-to-cover, a little each night before bed. It has biography, history, medicine, social events, wisdom, famous quotes, humor, and a host of other topics! Get it, just to read!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews