"have ever been"

[David Sutcliffe]

Forgive me if this has already been said! (I am touring and hardly have time
to read all the postings). But an important point here, surely, is that "ever"
can or could formerly  mean "always". As in "you were ever the cheerful one"
or similar quote; I think Swift in Gulliver' s Travels has "their language is
ever on the flux".
In this sense, there is no problem with "I am now, and have ever been..." and
so on.

David

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