"Heaven for the climate, hell for the company"

[Garson O'Toole]

Joel S. Berson posted on the topic "Heaven for the climate, hell for
the company". Here are some relevant cites:

Cite: 1885, Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and
Correction, Twelfth Annual Session Held in Washington, D.C., June
4-10, 1885, Judge MacArthur speaking on June 10, 1885, Page 500,
National Conference of Charities and Correction.

Judge MacArthur speaking on June 10, 1885 (I think):

The effect of that paper reminded me of an anecdote relating to Ben
Wade, who was once asked his opinion on heaven and hell. Well," said
Mr. Wade, "I think, from all I can learn, that heaven has the better
climate, but hell has the better company."

http://books.google.com/books?id=AEw0AAAAMAAJ&q=%22hell+has%22#v=snippet&


Emery A. Storrs is another candidate for credit. Here is a cite in 1886.

Cite: 1886, Life of Emery A. Storrs: His Wit and Eloquence by Isaac E.
Adams, Page 795, Hubbard Brothers, Philadelphia, [G.L. Howe, Chicago].

A young man once approached him with, "Mr. Storrs, pardon me, but you
are a man who has thought much upon all topics. I wish to ask you for
your opinion of Heaven and Hell." Fixing his keen eyes on the
enquirer, Mr. Storrs answered "When I think of the beauteous
descriptions of the abode of the saints, and when I recollect that
many noble witty, genial souls have died 'unregenerate,' I must answer
you, sir, that, while, doubtless, Heaven has the best climate, Hell
has the best society."

http://books.google.com/books?id=BgI9AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Heaven+has%22#v=snippet&


Some quotation references credit J. M. Barrie of Peter Pan fame, and
it looks like he did use it in 1891.

Cite: 1891, Good Words edited by Donald Macleod, The Little Minister
by J. M. Barrie, Page 60, Isbister and Company, London. (HathiTrust)

"Maybe you've ower keen an interest in the devil, Tammas," retorted
the atheist, "but, ony way, if it's heaven for climate, it's hell for
company."

http://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101076425279

In the previous message I mentioned 1884 as the date for a citation,
but that date was based on a quick scan of information that proved to
be inaccurate from GB.

Garson


On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 3:24 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      "Heaven for the climate, hell for the company"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Having seen this recently via Alex Beam (Boston Globe), having liked
> the notion of the "company" ever since Shaw's "Don Juan in Hell", I
> decided to see who has said this.  In the first 30 Ghits, I find
> Dante, Machievelli, William Blake, Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain, and
> Mom credited.
>
> Both Beam and the ever-reliable YBQ say Twain, the latter finding it
> in Notebook, 1889--1890 and the former quoting it accurately.
>
> But I do not find quite this characterization in Don Juan's
> disquisition in response to Ana's "But if Hell be so beautiful as
> this, how glorious must heaven be!"  (The Devil relinquishes his
> defence of the Lower Place to Juan's eloquence.)
>
> Joel
>
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