Courage and Serenity Prayer news

[Shapiro, Fred]

Stephen, this is an important discovery, although embarrassing to me personally.  I will certainly have to address this in my column in the Yale Alumni Magazine or elsewhere.

Fred Shapiro



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From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Stephen Goranson [goranson at DUKE.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 11:26 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Courage and Serenity Prayer news

As you may recall, this prayer is attested in publications from 1936 (found by
Fred Shapiro), with the second (serenity) line I found attested in 1934. Notice
I call the serenity line the second line; evidence so far available suggests
the
original form of the prayer had courage before serenity. Below I present (from
a paper copy) an antedating of the prayer's attribution to Reinhold
Niebuhr--earlier, apparently than he recalled!!--to 1937. This 1937 use is the
second oldest complete use so far identified. Also, it cites another
publication from which it quotes.

The Intercollegian and Far Horizons, vol. 55 no. 2, November 1937,
"What Makes a Strong Student Christian Association?" by Paul E. Pfwetze, pages
35-36. Page 36 col. 1:
A strong Association evaluates its progress by these tests:
1....
[col. 2:]
10. Is it inspired by the prayer attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr:
"Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to
accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other."
Reprinted from "Notes and Views" (Published by the Pacific Southwest Field
Council).

Stephen Goranson
http://www.duke.edu/~goranson

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