This Happens All The Time

When asked to attribute a 19th century quote, “Mark Twain” is never a dumb answer

What's that saying?  "There are no dumb questions, only dumb answers?"

I thought it was "There are no dumb questions, only inquisitive morons."

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid people?"

Ehh...something like that.

Anyway, it wasn't that long ago that I was watching Jeopardy, as I am wont to do.  I'm usually fairly decent at it, as long as one of the categories is either Bird Flu or Kings Named Moshushu.  If you don't get that reference, don't feel so bad, but I would be happier if you did.  Regardless, when we got to Final Jeopardy, I don't even remember what the category was, but the point was that you were supposed to name the person who had coined the phrase listed in the clue.  There was some reference to like the 1870s or something along those lines...the exact date is irrelevant. 

The reason the date is irrelevant is because it was somewhere in the 1800s, which means there's a very good chance that the quote was coined by Mark Twain...I'm assuming you'd get full credit if you answered Samuel Clemens.  Ultimately, that was the correct answer, and there was much rejoicing. 

As it turns out, 83% of all famous quotations from the 1800s are courtesy of Mark Twain, so if you ever happen to be on Jeopardy or playing some other trivia game and the topic comes up, you could give a much worse answer.  For example..."Who Are Three People Who Have Never Been In My Kitchen."