Never pick a fight...buys ink by the barrel; Politics is the art of the possible

[Fred Shapiro]

On Wed, 18 May 2005, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:

> "Politics and People: Final Rules" by Alan L. Otten
> _Wall Street Journal_, Sep 28, 1978, p. 22, col. 3
> William Greener, press aide to former-President Ford and several Cabinet
> officers, would cite Bill Greener's Law in his frequent efforts to
> persuade high-ranking officials not to respond publicly to hostile news
> stories or editorials; the law warns, "Never argue with a man who buys ink
> by the barrel."

So Greener is reinstated as the putative coiner...  The great thing about
ADS-L is that even when I say things that are wrong, this ends up being a
good thing as better information gets elicited.

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
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