Category: Satchel Paige

How Old Would You Be If You Didn’t Know How Old You Are?

Satchel Paige? Wayne W. Dyer? Clarence H. Wilson? Wallace R. Farrington? G. Herbert True? Ruth Gordon? Garson Kanin? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: It is foolish to place restrictive limits on oneself solely based on age. Most activities can be pursued at any age. This viewpoint is encouraged by an inquiry designed for self-reflection. Here are three versions:

(1) How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?
(2) How old would you be if you didn’t know your age?
(3) If you didn’t know how old you were, how old would you be?

This saying has been attributed to famous baseball player Satchel Paige, popular motivational author Wayne W. Dyer, and others. Would you please explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared within a 1927 sermon described in “The Brooklyn Daily Eagle” of New York. Reverend Clarence H. Wilson of the Flatbush Congregational Church encouraged his audience to adapt a youthful perspective. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:[1] 1927 October 24, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Too Much Checking Up Of One’s Life Is Bad, View of Dr. Wilson, Quote Page 13, Column 3, Brooklyn, New York. (Newspapers_com)

We make ourselves old by keeping tally of the years. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are? Properly, a man is as old as he feels. . . . Birthdays are an annoyance and a delusion.

QI tentatively credits Clarence H. Wilson with this saying although there is a significant probability that the statement was already in circulation.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading How Old Would You Be If You Didn’t Know How Old You Are?

References

References
↑1 1927 October 24, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Too Much Checking Up Of One’s Life Is Bad, View of Dr. Wilson, Quote Page 13, Column 3, Brooklyn, New York. (Newspapers_com)

Don’t Look Back. Something Might Be Gaining On You

Satchel Paige? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: The famous baseball player Satchel Paige once offered advice about staying young at heart. Here are three versions:

  • Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.
  • Don’t look back. Somebody may be gaining on you.
  • Never look back. You might see someone overtaking you.

Would you please help me to find the correct phrasing and an accurate citation?

Quote Investigator: In June 1953 “Collier’s” magazine published a profile of Leroy Satchel Paige. A sidebar listed six quotations from Paige under the title “How to Stay Young” including the following 3 items:[1]1953 June 13, Collier’s, “Time Ain’t Gonna Mess with Me” (Concluding The Fabulous Satchel Paige) by Richard Donovan, How to Stay Young (Six quotations displayed in a sidebar box), … Continue reading

If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.

Go very light on the vices, such as carrying on in society. The social ramble ain’t restful.

Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading Don’t Look Back. Something Might Be Gaining On You

References

References
↑1 1953 June 13, Collier’s, “Time Ain’t Gonna Mess with Me” (Concluding The Fabulous Satchel Paige) by Richard Donovan, How to Stay Young (Six quotations displayed in a sidebar box), Start Page 54, Quote Page 55, The Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, Springfield, Ohio. (Unz)

I Have Never Thrown an Illegal Pitch. The Trouble Is Some of My Pitches Were Never Seen By This Generation

Satchel Paige? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: The U.S. baseball pitcher Leroy Satchel Paige was proud of his inventive style and expert control. When accused of breaking rules he replied with a marvelous remark about throwing pitches that had not been seen in a generation. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Quote Investigator: In March 1958 “The Miami Herald” published a profile that described Leroy Satchel Paige as a living legend. He was known for a ‘hesitation pitch’ which confused batters, but he did not claim to be its inventor. Also, he denied breaking rules. The term “straight-faced” was used as a verb in the following passage. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:[1] 1958 March 5, The Miami Herald, Psychiatrist Satch Set for Season by Eddie Storin (Herald Sports Writer), Quote Page 5D, Column 6, Miami, Florida. (Newspapers_com)

“I have never thrown an illegal pitch,” he straight-faced. “The trouble is some of my pitches were never seen by this generation, until I came along.

“But you know a fella named (Rube) Waddell used that hesitation pitch of mine back in the 1890’s”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading I Have Never Thrown an Illegal Pitch. The Trouble Is Some of My Pitches Were Never Seen By This Generation

References

References
↑1 1958 March 5, The Miami Herald, Psychiatrist Satch Set for Season by Eddie Storin (Herald Sports Writer), Quote Page 5D, Column 6, Miami, Florida. (Newspapers_com)

Don’t Pray When It Rains If You Don’t Pray When the Sun Shines

Satchel Paige? Billy Sunday? Hal Boyle? Apocryphal? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: Prayers are typically offered when a dangerous situation is encountered or when a disturbing event occurs. Yet, prayers of joy and thankfulness are also appropriate when something positive happens. The following metaphorical guidance is pertinent:

Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.

These words have been credited to the acclaimed baseball pitcher Leroy Paige (Satchel Paige). Would you please explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: In 1959 Hal Boyle, a columnist with the Associated Press, wrote a piece about Satchel Paige that included quotations from the Hall of Famer . Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[1] 1959 October 2, Moberly Monitor-Index, Famous Negro Pitcher in Love With Movies After First Role by Hal Boyle (Associated Press), Quote Page 10, Column 6, Moberly, Missouri. (Newspapers_com)

“Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading Don’t Pray When It Rains If You Don’t Pray When the Sun Shines

References

References
↑1 1959 October 2, Moberly Monitor-Index, Famous Negro Pitcher in Love With Movies After First Role by Hal Boyle (Associated Press), Quote Page 10, Column 6, Moberly, Missouri. (Newspapers_com)

Sometimes I Sits and Thinks, and Sometimes I Just Sits

A. A. Milne? Satchel Paige? William Gunning King? Lucy Maud Montgomery? Alice G. Young? Woodrow Wilson? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: I enjoy relaxing and daydreaming, so I’ve always been attracted to the following saying:

Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.

These words have been credited to the creator of Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne, and to the prominent baseball player, Satchel Paige. Yet, I am skeptical because I haven’t been able to find any solid citations. Would you please help?

Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in February 1905 within multiple newspapers such as “The Pittsburg Press” of Pennsylvania[1] 1905 February 18, The Pittsburg Press, How He Spent His Time, Quote Page 2, Column 5, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) and the “The Buffalo Sunday News” of New York.[2] 1905 February 19, The Buffalo Sunday News, The Simple Life, Quote Page 15, Column 5, Buffalo, New York. (Newspapers_com) These papers acknowledged “The Boston Record” of Massachusetts. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:

A bond salesman just back from Maine says he asked an old fisherman in a snow-bound hamlet what he did with himself evenings.

The reply was: “Oh, sometimes I sit and think, and then again I just sit.”

—Boston Record

Thus, the first version employed the phrase “I sit” instead of “I sits”. The originator was described as an anonymous old fisherman, and the key propagator was an anonymous bond salesman.

Thanks to Barry Popik for his pioneering research on this topic. He found a March 1905 citation.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading Sometimes I Sits and Thinks, and Sometimes I Just Sits

References

References
↑1 1905 February 18, The Pittsburg Press, How He Spent His Time, Quote Page 2, Column 5, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com)
↑2 1905 February 19, The Buffalo Sunday News, The Simple Life, Quote Page 15, Column 5, Buffalo, New York. (Newspapers_com)

The Player Is Listed As Day-to-Day. Aren’t We all?

Vin Scully? Keith Olbermann? Dan Patrick? Satchel Paige?

Dear Quote Investigator: In the world of competitive sports an injured athlete often is placed on a list indicating that his or her health and readiness will be reevaluated each day. All of us can experience dramatic swings in well-being within twenty-four hours. One philosophical commentator stated:

The player is listed as day-to-day. Aren’t we all?

These words have been attributed to long-time Los Angeles Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully, ESPN SportsCenter personality Keith Olbermann, and SportsCenter colleague Dan Patrick. Would you please explore its provenance?

Quote Investigator: The earliest evidence located by QI appeared in the “Los Angeles Times” on June 9th, 1991. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[1] 1991 June 9, Los Angeles Times, Morning Briefing by Julie Cart, Quote Page C2, Column 1, Los Angeles, California. (Newspapers_com)

Quotebook: Vin Scully, during Friday’s Cub-Dodger game: “Andre Dawson has a bruised knee and is listed as day-to-day. (Pause.) Aren’t we all?”

June 9th was Sunday; hence, the game occurred on Friday June 7th, 1991. The quotation was also reported in “The Sunday Star-Bulletin & Advertiser” of Honolulu, Hawaii.[2]1991 June 9, The Sunday Star-Bulletin & Advertiser (The Honolulu Advertiser), Morning Briefing: Trevino right on course by Advertiser News Services, Quote Page C3, Column 6, Honolulu, Hawaii. … Continue reading

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading The Player Is Listed As Day-to-Day. Aren’t We all?

References

References
↑1 1991 June 9, Los Angeles Times, Morning Briefing by Julie Cart, Quote Page C2, Column 1, Los Angeles, California. (Newspapers_com)
↑2 1991 June 9, The Sunday Star-Bulletin & Advertiser (The Honolulu Advertiser), Morning Briefing: Trevino right on course by Advertiser News Services, Quote Page C3, Column 6, Honolulu, Hawaii. (Newspapers_com)

Dance Like Nobody’s Watching

Mark Twain? Satchel Paige? William Purkey? Susanna Clark? Richard Leigh? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: The following words are attributed to a variety of people including Mark Twain, Satchel Paige, and William Purkey:

Sing like no one is listening.
Love like you’ve never been hurt.
Dance like nobody’s watching,
and live like it’s heaven on earth.

The ordering of the lines varies, and sometimes other statements are inserted. Could you explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: In 1987 the songwriters Susanna Clark and Richard Leigh composed “Come from the Heart” which included the following lyrics:

You’ve got to sing like you don’t need the money
Love like you’ll never get hurt
You’ve got to dance like nobody’s watchin’
It’s gotta come from the heart if you want it to work.

QI believes that the other sets of expressions containing the statement “dance like nobody’s watching” were derived from these lyrics. There is no substantive support for ascriptions to Mark Twain or Satchel Paige. Additional information about the attribution to William Purkey is given further below. The important reference work “The Yale Book of Quotations” has an entry ascribing the lyrics to Clark and Leigh.[1] 2006, The Yale Book of Quotations by Fred R. Shapiro, Section Susanna Clark, Quote Page 156, Yale University Press, New Haven. (Verified on paper)

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading Dance Like Nobody’s Watching

References

References
↑1 2006, The Yale Book of Quotations by Fred R. Shapiro, Section Susanna Clark, Quote Page 156, Yale University Press, New Haven. (Verified on paper)

When He Turned Out the Light He Was in Bed Before the Room Was Dark

Muhammad Ali? Satchel Paige? Cool Papa Bell? Hablarias? Moran and Mack? Abbott and Costello? Anonymous?

Dear Quote investigator: Renowned heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali was famous for his witty remarks which included humorous boasts such as this:

I’m so fast I hit the light switch in my room and jump into bed before my room goes dark.

Yet, I believe that I heard a similar comical description employed by the famous baseball pitcher Satchel Paige who used it when characterizing another lightning-fast pitcher named James (Cool Papa) Bell. Could you explore this expression?

Quote Investigator: By the 1970s Muhammad Ali was using this jocular hyperbolic self-description. Some years earlier, in the 1960s Satchel Paige was using this gag when discussing James (Cool Papa) Bell. Interestingly, the remark has a very long history.

The earliest instance located by QI was printed in 1917 in “The Marines Magazine”, a monthly for United States Marine Corps personnel. A correspondent from Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania using the pseudonym Hablarias employed the jape:[1] 1917 April, The Marines Magazine, (Report from Fort Mifflin, PA by “HABLARIAS”), Quote Page 32, Edited at Marine Corps Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (HathiTrust full view) link

Corporal Smith is still in training and, believe me, he is some speed merchant. Here is one record he holds: It is 20 feet from the switchboard to his pile of alfalfa and he can switch off the lights and be back in bed before the room gets dark!

In 1919 an article covering the vaudeville circuit in the Chicago Tribune stated that the comedy team of Moran and Mack were using a version of the joke:[2] 1919 March 9, Chicago Tribune, Vaudeville Wit: Majestic, Quote Page D5, Chicago, Illinois. (ProQuest)

“Are you quick?”
“Am I quick? Why, man, when I go to bed at night and turn out the light I’m in bed before the room is dark.”

In 1920 a newspaper in Kansas printed the remarkable tale of swiftness. Many individuals still relied on gas lighting rather than electric lighting in that year:[3] 1920 February 25, Hutchinson News, (Freestanding short item), Quote Page 9, Column 3, Hutchinson, Kansas. (NewspaperArchive)

An Atchison woman: “I’ll say my husband is fast. He is so fast that when he turns off the gas light he is in bed before the room gets dark.”— Atchison Globe.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading When He Turned Out the Light He Was in Bed Before the Room Was Dark

References

References
↑1 1917 April, The Marines Magazine, (Report from Fort Mifflin, PA by “HABLARIAS”), Quote Page 32, Edited at Marine Corps Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (HathiTrust full view) link
↑2 1919 March 9, Chicago Tribune, Vaudeville Wit: Majestic, Quote Page D5, Chicago, Illinois. (ProQuest)
↑3 1920 February 25, Hutchinson News, (Freestanding short item), Quote Page 9, Column 3, Hutchinson, Kansas. (NewspaperArchive)

Age Is an Issue of Mind Over Matter. If You Don’t Mind, It Doesn’t Matter

Mark Twain? Jack Benny? Satchel Paige? Muhammad Ali? Unknown gerontology researcher?

Dear Quote Investigator: On a popular website recently I saw a slide show of quotations ascribed to Mark Twain that included the following:

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.

I thought this was said by the celebrated baseball pitcher Satchel Paige. Can you determine who should be credited?

Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence that Mark Twain created this witticism. For example, it is not found on TwainQuotes.com, the important website of Mark Twain quotations and resources[1] TwainQuotes.com website edited by Barbara Schmidt. (Search performed December 17, 2012) link nor in the large compilation “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips”.[2] 1948, Mark Twain at Your Fingertips by Caroline Thomas Harnsberger, Cloud, Inc., Beechhurst Press, Inc., New York. (Search performed on scanned pages)

The earliest evidence located by QI appeared in an article about aging that was published in multiple newspapers in 1968. The saying was attributed to an anonymous scientific researcher. The prefatory phrase was somewhat shorter:[3] 1968 June 28, Statesville Record and Landmark, Facts Listed On Aging, Quote Page 7-A, Statesville, North Carolina. (NewspaperArchive)

As one government researcher puts it: “Aging is a matter of mind. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

The quote above was printed in a North Carolina newspaper in June. The same article and saying were printed in a paper in Schenectady, New York in July.[4] 1968 July 11, Schenectady Gazette, Researchers Say Heredity Affects Aging, Quote Page 38, Column 3, Schenectady, New York. (Google News Archive)

The saying was memorable enough that the excerpt above was extracted from the article and printed by itself as a freestanding filler item in a Baton Rouge, Louisiana newspaper in July.[5] 1968 July 18, State Times (State Times Advocate), (Freestanding quote), Page 7-C, Column 3, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (GenealogyBank)

The adage continued to circulate and in 1970 it was ascribed to an anonymous physician in an article from the UPI news service:[6] 1970 May 20, The Milwaukee Journal, Aging Called A Matter Of Mind Over Calendar, (UPI News), Part 2, Page 7, Column 3, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Google News Archive)

“Aging is a matter of mind. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” With these words, one physician summed up one of the factors that means better health in the later years — the attitude that one has toward growing older, chronologically.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading Age Is an Issue of Mind Over Matter. If You Don’t Mind, It Doesn’t Matter

References

References
↑1 TwainQuotes.com website edited by Barbara Schmidt. (Search performed December 17, 2012) link
↑2 1948, Mark Twain at Your Fingertips by Caroline Thomas Harnsberger, Cloud, Inc., Beechhurst Press, Inc., New York. (Search performed on scanned pages)
↑3 1968 June 28, Statesville Record and Landmark, Facts Listed On Aging, Quote Page 7-A, Statesville, North Carolina. (NewspaperArchive)
↑4 1968 July 11, Schenectady Gazette, Researchers Say Heredity Affects Aging, Quote Page 38, Column 3, Schenectady, New York. (Google News Archive)
↑5 1968 July 18, State Times (State Times Advocate), (Freestanding quote), Page 7-C, Column 3, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (GenealogyBank)
↑6 1970 May 20, The Milwaukee Journal, Aging Called A Matter Of Mind Over Calendar, (UPI News), Part 2, Page 7, Column 3, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Google News Archive)