The Next Best Thing To Being Witty One’s Self, Is To Be Able To Quote Another’s Wit

Christian Nestell Bovee? Evan Esar? Laurence J. Peter?

Dear Quote Investigator: I once heard an observation that cogently explained the popularity of quotations. I do not recall the precise phrasing, but it was something like this:

If you are unable to be witty yourself, the next best thing is being able to quote another’s wit.

Would you please determine the name of the originator and the correct phrasing?

Quote Investigator: In 1862 Christian Nestell Bovee published a two volume compilation titled “Intuitions and Summaries of Thought”. Bovee worked hard throughout his life to construct epigrams and memorable passages. His work included a section about the benefits of employing quotations. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:[1]1862, Intuitions and Summaries of Thought by C. N. Bovee (Christian Nestell Bovee), Volume 2 of 2, Chapter: Questions and Answers: Quoters and Quoting, Quote Page 124 and 125, William Veazie, Boston, … Continue reading

At all events, the next best thing to being witty one’s self, is to be able to quote another’s wit. He presents me with what is always an acceptable gift who brings me news of a great thought before unknown. He enriches me without impoverishing himself.

The judicious quoter, too, helps on what is much needed in the world, a freer circulation of good thoughts, pure feelings, and pleasant fancies. Luminous quotations, also, atone, by their interest, for the dulness of an inferior book, and add to the value of a superior work by the variety which they lend to its style and treatment.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading The Next Best Thing To Being Witty One’s Self, Is To Be Able To Quote Another’s Wit

References

References
1 1862, Intuitions and Summaries of Thought by C. N. Bovee (Christian Nestell Bovee), Volume 2 of 2, Chapter: Questions and Answers: Quoters and Quoting, Quote Page 124 and 125, William Veazie, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link

Our Greatest Glory Is Not in Never Falling, But in Rising Every Time We Fall

Confucius? Nelson Mandela? Vince Lombardi? Oliver Goldsmith? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Christian Nestell Bovee?

Dear Quote Investigator: The following adage about motivation and perseverance has been attributed to an oddly eclectic group: Chinese philosopher Confucius, football coach Vince Lombardi, activist politician Nelson Mandela, Irish author Oliver Goldsmith, and transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson. Here are four versions. The fourth uses “failing” instead of “falling”:

1) The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

2) The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall.

3) Our greatest strength lies not in never having fallen, but in rising every time we fall.

4) Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.

I have no idea if any of these ascriptions is correct because I have not seen any documentation listing a source. Would you please help me with this frustrating situation?

Quote Investigator: In 1760 and 1761 a series of letters written by an imaginary Chinese traveler based in London named Lien Chi Altangi was published in “The Public Ledger” magazine of London. The actual author was an Irishman named Oliver Goldsmith who used the perspective of an outsider from China to comment on and satirize the life and manners of the city. Goldsmith later achieved fame with his novel “The Vicar of Wakefield” and his play “She Stoops to Conquer”.[1] The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature (Third edition), Entry: The Citizen of the World, Oxford University Press, Oxford Reference Online. (Accessed May 26, 2014)

The letters were collected and released in book form in 1762 under the title “The Citizen of the World: or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher, Residing in London, to His Friends in the East “. The seventh letter from Lien Chi Altangi included an instance of the adage:[2]1762, The Citizen of the World: or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher, Residing in London, to His Friends in the East by Lien Chi Altangi (Oliver Goldsmith), Letter VII and Letter XXII, Printed for … Continue reading

Our greatest glory is, not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

A different phrasing of the maxim was included in the twenty-second letter:

True magnanimity consists not in NEVER falling, but in RISING every time we fall.

QI has located no substantive evidence that the ancient sage Confucius constructed this saying in either form, and QI believes that Goldsmith crafted it. However, the context of these simulated exotic letters led many readers to believe that the author was relaying aphorisms from China. Indeed, the introductory note for the seventh letter specifically referred to Confucius:

The Editor thinks proper to acquaint the reader, that the greatest part of the following letter seems to him to be little more than a rhapsody of sentences borrowed from Confucius, the Chinese philosopher.

By 1801 an edition of “The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith” included the letters that were originally ascribed to Lien Chi Altangi. Hence, the words were properly credited to Goldsmith.[3]1801, The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith, Volume 3 of 4, Letter VII, Quote Page 21, Letter XXI, Quote Page 75, Printed for J. Johnson, G. and J. Robinson, W. J. and J. Richardson, et al, … Continue reading

Yet, by 1831 the saying had been reassigned to Confucius. In later years, the phrasing evolved, and the adage was attributed to a variety of individuals including Ralph Waldo Emerson. In modern times, there is evidence that both Vince Lombardi and Nelson Mandela used the expression. Details for these citations are given further below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading Our Greatest Glory Is Not in Never Falling, But in Rising Every Time We Fall

References

References
1 The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature (Third edition), Entry: The Citizen of the World, Oxford University Press, Oxford Reference Online. (Accessed May 26, 2014)
2 1762, The Citizen of the World: or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher, Residing in London, to His Friends in the East by Lien Chi Altangi (Oliver Goldsmith), Letter VII and Letter XXII, Printed for George and Alex. Ewing, Dublin, Ireland. (ECCO TCP: Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Text Creation Partnership) link link link
3 1801, The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith, Volume 3 of 4, Letter VII, Quote Page 21, Letter XXI, Quote Page 75, Printed for J. Johnson, G. and J. Robinson, W. J. and J. Richardson, et al, Printed by Nichols and Son, Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street, London. (Google Books Full View) link

Kindness is a Language which the Deaf Can Hear and the Blind Can See

Mark Twain? Christian Nestell Bovee? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: Recently I clicked on a link that led to a top business-oriented website and was greeted by an interstitial page that displayed a quotation attributed to Mark Twain:

Kindness is a language which the deaf and the blind can read.

I thought this ascription was implausible, and the remark was odd. A deaf person can read standard text, and a blind person can read Braille. Would you examine this saying?

Quote Investigator: Mark Twain died in 1910 and the first attribution of this saying to Twain located by QI was published in 1942. Hence, the supporting evidence was very weak. Details for this citation are given further below.

The earliest instance located by QI appeared in February 1861 within a New York newspaper column titled “Wit and Wisdom: Original and Selected” which contained a miscellaneous collection of sayings, aphorisms, and quips. The following version of the dictum referred to the “dumb” and “deaf” instead of the “deaf” and “blind”. The term “dumb” was used to describe individuals who were unable to speak, typically because of congenital deafness. This word choice is now less frequent because it is considered offensive:[1] 1861 February 2, New York Ledger, Volume XVI, Issue 48, Wit and Wisdom: Original and Selected, Prepared for The Ledger by Geo. D. Prentice, Quote Page 3, Column 5, New York. (GenealogyBank)

KINDNESS is a language which the dumb can speak and the deaf can understand.

This adage suggested that acts of kindness transcended conventional sensory and communication pathways. These acts could be performed or experienced without recourse to speaking or hearing.

The author of the saying was unidentified. A nearly identical version with one word removed was printed in “The Ladies’ Repository” in June 1861. In the following passage kindness was designated a universal language:[2] 1861 June, The Ladies’ Repository, Volume 29, The Universal Language, Quote Page 560, Published by A. Tompkins, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books full view) link

THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE.—Kindness is a language which the dumb can speak and the deaf understand.

The expression was printed in other newspapers in 1861 such as the “Weekly Patriot and Union” of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.[3] 1861 October 24, Weekly Patriot and Union (Patriot), (Freestanding short item), Quote Page 3, Column 4, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (GenealogyBank)

In 1862 the Christian Nestell Bovee published a two volume compilation titled “Intuitions and Summaries of Thought” that included an instance of the saying in a section called KINDNESS. Bovee worked hard throughout his life to construct epigrams and memorable passages, and some of his phrases were reprinted by others. Parts of the 1862 work had already been published in the periodicals “Atlantic Monthly” and “American Review”. In later years Bovee often received credit for the adage, and it is possible that he originally crafted it:[4]1862, Intuitions and Summaries of Thought by C. N. Bovee (Christian Nestell Bovee), Volume 1 of 2, Section: Kindness, Quote Page 240, Riverside Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Google Books full … Continue reading

KINDNESS

A LANGUAGE which the dumb can speak, and the deaf can understand.
It speaks well for the native kindness of our hearts, that nothing gives us greater pleasure than to feel that we are conferring it.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading Kindness is a Language which the Deaf Can Hear and the Blind Can See

References

References
1 1861 February 2, New York Ledger, Volume XVI, Issue 48, Wit and Wisdom: Original and Selected, Prepared for The Ledger by Geo. D. Prentice, Quote Page 3, Column 5, New York. (GenealogyBank)
2 1861 June, The Ladies’ Repository, Volume 29, The Universal Language, Quote Page 560, Published by A. Tompkins, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books full view) link
3 1861 October 24, Weekly Patriot and Union (Patriot), (Freestanding short item), Quote Page 3, Column 4, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (GenealogyBank)
4 1862, Intuitions and Summaries of Thought by C. N. Bovee (Christian Nestell Bovee), Volume 1 of 2, Section: Kindness, Quote Page 240, Riverside Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Google Books full view) link
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