Quote Investigator® – Page 82

If You Seek Revenge You Should Dig Two Graves

Confucius? Japanese Proverb? Chinese Proverb? William Elliot Griffis? Jeff Bezos?

Dear Quote Investigator: Seeking vengeance can backfire on an individual and lead to additional pain and suffering. The founding CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, referenced a powerful cautionary proverb about revenge during an interview in 2016 although he expressed uncertainty about its origin:[ref] YouTube video, Title: Jeff Bezos vs. Peter Thiel and Donald Trump | Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon | Code Conference 2016, Uploaded on May 31, 2016, Uploaded by Recode, (Quotation starts at 24 minute 13 seconds of 1 hour 20 minutes 27 seconds) Description: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos talks with The Verge’s Walt Mossberg, (Accessed on youtube.com on June 1, 2016) link [/ref]

It’s attributed to Confucius. Who knows if it’s really Confucius or not, but: “Seek revenge and you should dig two graves, one for yourself”.

Would you please explore the provenance of this saying?

Quote Investigator: Researchers have been unable to find this statement in the writings of Confucius. The earliest partial match known to QI appeared in an 1876 history book about Japan called “The Mikado’s Empire” by William Elliot Griffis who presented a list of Japanese proverbs which included the following. The statement in the second line provided an interpretation of the proverb. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[ref] 1876, The Mikado’s Empire, Book I: History of Japan From 660 B.C. to 1872 A.D., Book II: Personal Experiences, Observations, and Studies in Japan: 1870-1874 by William Elliot Griffis (Late of the Imperial University of Tokio, Japan), Chapter XIV: Japanese Proverbs, Start Page 504, Quote Page 511, Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York. (Google Books Full View) link [/ref]

If you call down a curse on any one, look out for two graves.
(“Curses, like young chickens, always come home to roost.”)

This precursor statement did not mention the motivation of revenge. Yet, this saying evolved over time, and by 1915 the word “revenge” appeared instead of “curse”. See further below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

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Time Is What Keeps Everything From Happening At Once

Albert Einstein? Ray Cummings? Mark Twain? Arthur C. Clarke? John Archibald Wheeler? Arthur Power Dudden? Susan Sontag?

Dear Quote Investigator: Albert Einstein has received credit for a humorous remark about time:

The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.

Would you please explore the provenance of this quip?

Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence that Einstein wrote or spoke the statement above. It is listed within a section called “Probably Not By Einstein” in the comprehensive reference “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein” from Princeton University Press.[ref] 2010, The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, Edited by Alice Calaprice, Section: Probably Not by Einstein, Quote Page 481, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. (Verified on paper) [/ref]

The earliest match known to QI appeared in March 1919 within a story titled “The Girl in the Golden Atom” by Ray Cummings in the magazine “All-Story Weekly”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:[ref] 1919 March 15, All-Story Weekly, Volume 95, Number 1, The Girl in the Golden Atom by Ray Cummings, Start Page 1, Quote Page 20, Column 1, The Frank A. Munsey Company, New York. (Verified with scans from University of Louisville Archives and Special Collections Repository) [/ref]

“How would you describe time?”
The Big Business Man smiled. “Time,” he said, “is what keeps everything from happening at once.”
“Very clever,” laughed the Chemist.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

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Tact Is the Art of Recognizing When To Be Big and When Not To Belittle

Zig Ziglar? Charles Thompkins? Dana Robbins? Bob Talbert? Choupique? Bill Copeland? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: There is a fun definition of “tact” that employs a pun which contrasts the terms “be big” and “belittle”. I saw this humorous statement in a book by the prominent motivational author Zig Ziglar. Would you please explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: A similar pun appeared in a Tucson, Arizona. newspaper in 1958 although “tact” was not mentioned. The paper described a PTA forum held at a local high school in Catalina. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[ref] 1958 November 14, Tucson Daily Citizen, Catalina PTA Slates 3 Forums, Quote Page 30, Column 1, Tucson, Arizona. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]

The first panel on family living will have the topic “How Can Our Children Be Big When We Belittle Them?” Dr. Charles Thompkins, a pediatrician who writes for Parents Magazine, will act as moderator.

In September 1970 the definition of “tact” appeared within a column published in a Jackson, Mississippi newspaper:[ref] 1970 September 2, The Clarion-Ledger, HEW-ITT TO THE LINE Let the Chips Fall Where They May by Purser Hewitt, Quote Page 16, Column 1, Jackson, Mississippi. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]

PUN FUN
Tact, says Dana Robbins, is the art of recognizing when to be big and when not to belittle.

Dana Robbins may have been a local resident. QI does not know.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

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Fame Is a Vapor; Popularity an Accident; Riches Take Wings

Mark Twain? Horace Greeley? N. D. Hillis?

Dear Quote Investigator: Two interesting quotations begin with the same phrases but diverge to emphasize different ideas of impermanence:

Fame is a vapor; popularity an accident; the only earthly certainty is oblivion.

Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wings, those who cheer today will curse tomorrow, only one thing endures–character.

These remarks have been credited to the well-known humorist Mark Twain and the prominent newspaper editor Horace Greeley. Would you please explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: Horace Greeley achieved his greatest fame as the founder and editor of the popular “New-York Tribune” of New York City. In his later years he published an autobiography titled “Recollections of a Busy Life” which was serialized in several newspapers. On December 4, 1867 the “Nashville Union and Dispatch” of Tennessee printed a section of Greeley’s book about the founding of the “Tribune” which included a discussion of the evanescence of fame. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[ref] 1867 December 4, Nashville Union and Dispatch, Horace Greeley and His Paper: Recollections of a Busy Life, Quote Page 2, Column 3, Nashville, Tennessee. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]

Fame is a vapor; popularity an accident; riches take wings; the only earthly certainty is oblivion—no man can foresee what a day may bring forth; and those who cheer to-day will often curse to-morrow; and yet I cherish the hope that the journal I projected and established will live and flourish long after I shall have moldered into forgotten dust, being guided by a larger wisdom, a more unerring sagacity to discern the right, though not by a more unfaltering readiness to embrace and defend it at whatever personal cost; and that the stone which covers my ashes may bear to future eyes the still intelligible inscription, “Founder of The New York Tribune.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

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Our Deepest Fear Is Not That We Are Inadequate. Our Deepest Fear Is That We Are Powerful Beyond Measure

Nelson Mandela? Marianne Williamson?

Dear Quote Investigator: A mystical motivational speech begins with this line:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

The speech has been attributed to statesman Nelson Mandela and spiritual author Marianne Williamson. Would you please explore its provenance?

Quote Investigator: In 1977 Marianne Williamson encountered the popular and controversial three-volume spiritual work “A Course in Miracles”. She studied the text and performed the workbook exercises which produced positive experiences in her life. In 1983 she began to lecture to small groups about her interpretation of the course. Her audience grew over time, and in 1992 she published the bestseller “A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles”. The following passage appeared in chapter seven. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[ref] 1992, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles by Marianne Williamson, Chapter 7: Work, Quote Page 165, Published by HarperCollins, New York. (Verified on paper) [/ref]

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.

The passage by Williamson finished with the following sentence:

As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

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Ideas, Like Ghosts . . . Must Be Spoken To a Little Before They Will Explain Themselves

Charles Dickens? Henry Southgate? Frank J. Wilstach? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: The popular writer Charles Dickens vividly depicted the neighborhoods, lives, and habits of the disparate social classes of Victorian England. His rich language employed clever similes such as:

An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself.

In other words, an idea must be interrogated and pondered before it is understood. I have searched the writings of Dickens and cannot find this precise phrasing, but I am confident he wrote something similar. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Quote Investigator: Between 1846 and 1848 Charles Dickens published installments of the novel “Dealing’s with the Firm of Dombey and Son Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation”. Dickens portrayed the friendly character Mr. Toots as a person of limited intellect. The simile under examination was used by Dickens to signal that Toots was unable to understand the thoughts and motivations of the character Paul Dombey. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[ref] 1847, Dealing’s with the Firm of Dombey and Son Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation, Volume 1 of 3, Chapter 12: Paul’s Education, Quote Page 207, Bernhard Tauchnitz, Leipzig, Germany. (Google Books Full View) link [/ref]

Ideas, like ghosts (according to the common notion of ghosts), must be spoken to a little before they will explain themselves; and Toots had long left off asking any questions of his own mind.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

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Patriotism Is the Virtue of the Vicious

Oscar Wilde? A. H. Cooper-Prichard? Alvin Redman? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: The Irish playwright Oscar Wilde achieved his greatest fame in London. The historically fractured and deadly relationship between Ireland and England has led some intellectuals of the isles to adopt a skeptical attitude toward patriotic fervor. Intense emotions have been inspired by both patriotism and opposition to patriotism. The following remark has been attributed to Wilde:

Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.

I haven’t been able to find this saying in famous wit’s oeuvre. Would you please explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: Oscar Wilde died in 1900. The earliest match located by QI appeared in the 1931 book “Conversations with Oscar Wilde” by A. H. Cooper-Prichard. The author presented statements he heard spoken by Wilde during discussions and social events. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[ref] 1931, Conversations with Oscar Wilde by A. H. Cooper-Prichard (Arthur Henry Cooper-Prichard), Chapter 1: My Introduction To Oscar Wilde, Quote Page 20, Philip Allan, London. (Verified with hardcopy) [/ref]

“How is it,” I once asked him, “that people who are not possessed of a single other virtue should come out at times as patriots?”

“Exaggerated patriotism,” he answered, “is the most insincere form of self-conceit.” And at another time he said, “Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.”

The accuracy of the quotation is based on the memory of Cooper-Prichard, and his book appeared decades after the words were spoken. Nevertheless, the citation is significant because it presents direct ear-witness testimony.

According to Cooper-Prichard another dialog reflecting Oscar Wilde’s attitude toward patriotism occurred in the early 1890s in a drawing-room in South Kensington, London:[ref] 1931, Conversations with Oscar Wilde by A. H. Cooper-Prichard (Arthur Henry Cooper-Prichard), Chapter 5: Oscar Wilde at Afternoon Tea, Quote Page 99, Philip Allan, London. (Verified with hardcopy) [/ref]

AN AUNT. Oh, come, let us be patriotic!
OSCAR WILDE. ‘Let us sing unto the Lord a new song!’ and let that song be that to-day the World has become altogether too wide for mere Patriotism, which, after all, now is only the virtue of small minds.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

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Quote Origin: A Good Loser Is No Good

Robert Zuppke? Red Grange? Harry Gaspar? Robert Haven Schauffler? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Traditionally, displaying good sportsmanship and being a gracious loser has been extolled. Yet, a harsher and more controversial perspective has inspired an acerbic family of mottoes. Here are three examples:

A good loser is no good.
A good loser is a perennial loser.
A good loser is still a loser.

Would you please explore the history of the first saying?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1924 a newspaper in Santa Ana, California discussed prominent sports figure Robert Zuppke who won multiple national championships while he was the football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The newspaper reprinted quotations from Zuppke that originally appeared in a magazine article. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:¹

In the Nov. 8 issue of Liberty, Zuppke speaks his mind in part as follows:

“When I say that a good loser is no good I am merely making a statement that every American, whether in sport or in business, knows is true if he will stop and think. It is not commendable or desirable to be a good loser.”

Coach Zuppke further elaborated on the topic; he wanted intense efforts from his players:

“It is my experience that all quitters are good losers. The right kind of player must have a fear and horror of losing. If he hasn’t he will not tap his reserve energy in a game.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

When You Want To Fool the World, Tell the Truth

Otto von Bismarck? Charles Haddon Spurgeon? George Bernard Shaw? Gaston Means? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: An individual who is distrusted can tell the absolute truth and experience solid skepticism. This is particularly accurate when the truth is difficult to believe or comprehend. This observation is reflected in the following adage. Here are four versions:

When you have to fool the world, tell the truth.
To fool the world tell the truth.
The way to fool the people is to tell the truth.
When you want to fool the world, tell the truth.

This saying has been attributed to Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck, but I have been unable to find a citation. Would you please help?

Quote Investigator: In February 1885 the “Democrat and Chronicle” of Rochester, New York reported on a confusing stock transaction executed by a financial partner of the powerful speculator Jay Gould. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[ref] 1885 February 16, Democrat and Chronicle, Mystifying Wall Street: Selling Out Western Union, Quote Page 1, Column 3, Rochester, New York. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]

The entire street was puzzled by the performance. The general opinion seemed to be that the transactions were “wash” sales and that Gould had simply sold the stock with one hand and bought with the other. Others held that Gould was simply acting on Bismarck’s principle: “When you have to fool the world, tell the truth.”

Gould’s partner and confidential broker sold a large number of shares of Western Union. Normally, this would cause the share price to drop significantly, but Wall Street denizens suspected that something secret was occurring, and the price only fell a small amount. This outcome pleased Gould.

In 1885 Bismarck was still a powerful figure in European politics; he lived until 1898. QI has not yet found a contemporary German version of this quotation ascribed to the statesman. The newspaper referred to the adage as “Bismarck’s principle”; hence, it remains possible that he never said it; instead, observers synthesized the statement to describe the behavior of Bismarck.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

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He Who Is Not Courageous Enough To Take Risks Will Accomplish Nothing in Life

Muhammad Ali? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: The world heavyweight champion boxer Muhammad Ali was acclaimed for his physical and verbal dexterity. One of his mottoes stated that courage was needed to take bold risks, and significant accomplishments required these daring risks. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Quote Investigator: In April 1977 Muhammad Ali who was promoting his upcoming boxing match spoke to a group of journalists. His remarks were reported in the “Fort Lauderdale News” of Florida. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[ref] 1977 April 14, Fort Lauderdale News, Ali, Louis: The Spectre of Greatness Past (Continuation title: More Lincicome) by Bernie Lincicome (Sports Editor), Start Page 1D, Quote Page 6D, Column 1, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]

Obviously pleased with the philosophical direction of his answers, Ali continued in the same vein.

“He who is not courageous enough to take risks,” he said, “will accomplish nothing in life.”

He looked at the reporter’s note pad. “You got that?” he asked. He repeated it more slowly.

“Risk is why they are paying me so much money,” he said. “Look at the astronauts. They took risks. Evel Knievel takes much more risks than me.”

“I’m already the greatest. The most recognizable face in the world.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

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