[Ads-l] The man who first flung a word of abuse at his enemy instead of a spear was the founder of civilization

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Back in August 2015 I sent a message to the list about a saying
employed by Freud who credited an unnamed English writer. The saying
is in the subject line.

Now I've located a strong semantic match in 1840. The following
passage is an elaborate joke based on comically twisting the
implications of the saying. This existence of this joke suggests that
the saying was already in circulation in before 1840.

[ref] 1840, The Life and Adventures of Valentine Vox: The
Ventriloquist by Henry Cockton, Chapter 47: Shows How Valentine Tried
an Experiment in the House of Lords and Failed, Quote Page 389, Robert
Tyas, Paternoster Row, London. (Google Books Full View) link [/ref]

https://books.google.com/books?id=nOsDAAAAQAAJ&q=%22of+knocking%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
If he who was the first to abuse his fellow man, instead of knocking
out his brains without a word, laid thereby the basis of civilization,
it as naturally as possible follows, that the more highly civilised we
become, the more bitterly abusive we must be; and if this bright
deduction be perfectly sound, we may infer, without straining the
imagination much, that we are now fast approaching the very perfection
of civilization, which, of course, is a very great blessing.
[End excerpt]

Great thanks to email correspondent Octavian Laiu who sent to me an
1878 citation. The phrasing in the 1878 cite suggested queries that
located the 1840 citation.

Here is a link to the pertinent QI entry which has not yet been updated.
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/08/05/spear/

Garson


On Wed, Aug 5, 2015 at 4:07 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dr. Mardy Grothe who has written a series of quotation books contacted
> me about a saying attributed to Sigmund Freud. Here is a common modern
> version from brainyquote:
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> The first human who hurled an insult instead of a stone was the
> founder of civilization.  - Sigmund Freud
> [End excerpt]
>
> I found a German instance of the saying in an article by Freud
> published in a Vienna medical journal in 1893:
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Aber, wie ein englischer Autor geistreich bemerkte, derjenige, welcher
> dem Feinde statt des Pfeiles ein Schimpfwort entgegenschleuderte, war
> der Begründer der Civilisation, so ist das Wort der Ersatz für die
> That und unter Umständen der einzige Ersatz (Beichte).
> [End excerpt]
>
> Here is an English translation from the "Standard Edition" of Freud:
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> But, as an English writer has wittily remarked, the man who first
> flung a word of abuse at his enemy instead of a spear was the founder
> of civilization. Thus words are substitutes for deeds, and in some
> circumstances (e.g. in Confession) the only substitutes.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Perhaps someone can determine the identity of the "English writer" or
> can find an earlier instance of the saying. If you have an opinion
> about the translation that you wish to share on-list or off-list
> please do so.
>
> Here is a link to the Quote Investigator website entry:
> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/08/05/spear/
>
> Thanks
> Garson

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