[Ads-l] Quote: Most people would die sooner than think - in fact, they do so. Request "The ABC of Relativity" 1925 by Bertrand Russell

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

An entry discussing the saying in the subject line is now available on
the Quote Investigator website. The acknowledgement mentions Phillip
L. Ackerman, Barry Popik, and Dan Goncharoff.

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/09/23/think/

Feedback welcome,
Garson O'Toole

On Tue, Aug 28, 2018 at 9:40 AM Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Sheldon brings to mind Henry Sheldon, a leading light of Brooklyn society
> in the mid-19th century, and his descendants.
>
> He was not known for his writing, however.
>
> There is also the Sheldon of the Sheldon Edition in ... Topeka?
>
> On Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 8:23 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > A psychology professor asked me to explore the following expression.
> >
> > Most people would rather die than think, and many of them do.
> >
> > I've conducted a preliminary search, and it appears that "The ABC of
> > Relativity" (1925 & 1927 edition) by Bertrand Russell does contain an
> > instance although the phrasing differs from the statement above (see
> > below for the correct phrasing). The Google Books database contains a
> > snippet match in the 1927 edition.
> >
> > If you have access to the 1925 edition would you please verify the
> > presence of the excerpt below? It should be appear within the page
> > range 160 to 170. Later editions (1958 and after) have removed the
> > quotation.
> >
> > Year: 1927 (Edition in Google Books)
> > Title: The ABC of Relativity
> > Author: Bertrand Russell
> > Quote Page 166 (According to Google Books; please check nearby pages)
> > Database: Google Books (Data may be inaccurate and must be verified
> > with hardcopy or scans)
> >
> > [Begin excerpt from "The ABC of Relativity" and "Psyche". Verification
> > required.]
> > We all have a tendency to think that the world must conform to our
> > prejudices. The opposite view involves some effort of thought, and
> > most people would die sooner than think — in fact, they do so. But the
> > fact that a spherical universe seems odd to people who have been
> > brought up on Euclidean prejudices is no evidence that it is
> > impossible.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Here is some additional optional background. Interesting citations
> > from list members would be welcome.
> >
> > Below is a match in 1913 with the comical addendum "and they do". I do
> > not know the identity of "Sheldon".
> >
> > Date: September 4, 1913
> > Periodical: Printers' Ink: A Journal for Advertisers
> > Volume 84, Number 10
> > Article: (Advertisement encouraging the purchase of newspaper
> > advertisements in the "Standard Union" of Brooklyn)
> > Quote Page 54
> >
> >
> > https://books.google.com/books?id=ZcIpAAAAYAAJ&q=%22rather+fail%22#v=snippet&
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > Most people would rather fail, sicken and die than think—and they do.
> > —Sheldon
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Below is a match in 1857 without the comical addendum. I do not know
> > who wrote "Editor's Table".
> >
> > Date: August 1857
> > Periodical: Harper's New Monthly Magazine
> > Article: Editor's Table
> > Start Page 410, Quote Page 406
> >
> >
> > https://books.google.com/books?id=HIYCAAAAIAAJ&q=%22rather+die%22#v=snippet&
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > There are men who will dare death for glory or for country, who could
> > not dare scorn or contumely for the truth; and people generally would
> > rather die than think. Nothing but that enrapturing sentiment and
> > vivid vision implied in the love of truth--nothing but that
> > transporting thrill which imparadises the soul in the perception of a
> > new thought, can lift a wise and good man above the wholesome
> > prejudices of prudence, custom, country, and common belief, and make
> > him let loose the immortal idea his mind imprisons, and send it forth
> > to war against false systems and tenacious errors, with the firm faith
> > that it will result in eventual good, though at first it seems to
> > trail along with it the pernicious consequences of a lie.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson O'Toole
> > QuoteInvestigator.com
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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