"Speak softly and carry a big stick" letter worth $200,000?

[Fred Shapiro]

On Wed, 4 Apr 2007, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

> April 4, 2007 -- ARDMORE, Pa. - The original letter in which Theodore
> Roosevelt first used the phrase "Speak softly and carry a big stick" is up for
> sale, with an asking price of $200,000.
> The two-page typed letter was written by Roosevelt on Jan. 26, 1900, and
> mailed to Henry Sprague, a member of the Union League Club in New York.
> "I have always been fond of the West African proverb: 'Speak softly and carry
> a big stick; you will go far.' "

I should find an earlier occurrence of the phrase and blackmail them with
the threat of revealing it...

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
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   Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press
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