[Ads-l] better to light the candle than to curse the darkness - 1907

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Tue Mar 21 04:06:00 UTC 2017


Robin Hamilton wrote:
> When I first encountered this saying, I assumed (quite wrongly) that it was
> by one of the seventeenth century Cambridge Platonists, Ralph Cudworth
> or Henry More perhaps.  I've known for some time that it wasn't, but nice to
> see the origin done and dusted, Garson.

> (Overheard in a Cambridge pub sometiime in 1the 1650s:
>
>      HENRY MORE:  I wish I'd said that, Ralph.
>
>      RALPH CUDWORTH:   You will, Henry, you will.     )

Thank you for the kind words. Looks like Cudworth scooped James
McNeill Whistler by a couple centuries. Now, all we need is a
citation.

Your humor is appreciated. It gives me a chance to post the following
link which includes Stephen Goranson's valuable January 1886 citation.

“I Wish I Had Said That” “You Will, Oscar, You Will”
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/09/05/oscar-will/

Garson

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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