Proverb: Give a man a fish versus teach a man to fish (antedating variants starting in 1885)

[George Thompson]

A bumper-sticker variant:
"Give a man a fish, and he will be hungry again to-morrow; teach him to fish, and he will sit on the riverbank drinking beer."

Or words to that effect.  If I had realized that it had philological interest, I would have taken a note at the time.

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.

----- Original Message -----
From: Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
Date: Friday, August 6, 2010 10:46 am
Subject: Proverb: Give a man a fish versus teach a man to fish (antedating variants starting in 1885)
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU

> Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day.  Teach a man to fish and
> he will eat for a lifetime.
>
> This proverb was discussed by Fred Shapiro at the excellent Quotes
> Uncovered NYT blog yesterday. The instances can be grouped into
> clusters. Here are some early examples of three basic variants
> starting in 1885.
>
> http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/quotes-uncovered-teaching-a-man-to-fish/
>
> Cite: 1885, "Mrs Dymond" by "Miss Thackeray (Mrs. Richmond Ritchie)"
> aka Anne Isabella Ritchie, Page 342, Smith, Elder, & Co., London.
> (Google Books full view)
>
> 'He certainly doesn't practise his precepts, but I suppose the Patron
> meant that if you give a man a fish he is hungry again in an hour. If
> you teach him to catch a fish you do him a good turn. But these very
> elementary principles are apt to clash with the leisure of the
> cultivated classes.'
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=8Q8GAAAAQAAJ&q=precepts#v=snippet&
>
> The quote also appeared in an excerpt of the book "Mrs. Dymond" that
> was published in "Macmillan's Magazine" in 1885 August. The excerpt
> was republished in "Littell's Living Age" on 1885 September 5.
>
> Cite: 1885 August, Macmillan's Magazine, "Mrs. Dymond: Chapter XX:
> Almsgiving", Page 246, Volume 52, Macmillan and Co, London and New
> York. (Google Books full view)
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=5RpVvebZ4OoC&q=precepts#v=snippet&
>
>
> Cite: 1911, The Common Growth by M. Loane, Page 139, Longmans, Green &
> Co, New York. (Google Books full view)
>
> It is an oft-quoted saying, and one full of social wisdom: "Give a man
> a fish, and he will be hungry again to-morrow; teach him to catch a
> fish, and he will be richer all his life."
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=9OgsAAAAYAAJ&q=%22a+fish%22#v=snippet&
>
>
> Cite: 1962 October 23, Winnipeg Free Press, "New Threat: Hunger", Page
> 18, Column 6, Winnipeg, Manitoba. (NewspaperArchive)
>
> As a fitting motto for the Committee's work, Miss Speers quoted a
> Chinese proverb: "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day-if
> you teach him to fish, you feed him for many days."
>
> Garson
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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