Request about famous rejoinder: I shall be sober to-morrow, whereas you will remain the fool you are to-day. (1882) (Later examples by W. C. Fields and Winston Churchill)

[Garson O'Toole]

There are two famous rejoinders to accusations of inebriation. One is
attributed to W. C. Fields and the other to Winston Churchill. Here is
the response of W. C. Fields when told "Your drunk" in the 1934 film
"It’s a Gift."  Strictly speaking credit goes to the screenwriter and
not to Fields for this quip. (The Quote Verifier and Yale Book of
Quotations versions differ slightly so I will list both):

Yeah, and you’re crazy. I’ll be sober tomorrow, but you’ll be crazy
the rest of your life.

Yeah, and you're crazy. But I'll be sober tomorrow, and you'll be
crazy for the rest of your life.

Here is the Churchill anecdote reported in "Churchill by Himself: The
Definitive Collection of Quotations" by Richard Langworth. The words
are based on the testimony of a bodyguard named Ronald Golding who
described an incident that supposedly occurred in 1946:

[Bessie Braddock MP: "Winston, you are drunk, and what’s more you are
disgustingly drunk."]
Bessie, my dear, you are ugly, and what’s more, you are disgustingly
ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be disgustingly
ugly.

These two anecdotes can be grouped together in a class. The earliest
instance I've located of a member of this class is dated 1882.

Cite: 1882 August 05, The Daily Republican-Sentinel, His Advantage,
Page 5, Column 2, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (19th Century U.S. Newspapers
Gale)

A Conservative member of the House of Commons, who talks much on
foreign affairs, but not wisely, was passing last week through palace
yard, when a man ran against him. "Do you know, sir, who I am?" said
the member, "I am Mr. --, M.P." "What?" irreverently answered the man,
"are you Mr. --, the greatest fool in the House of Commons?" "You are
drunk," exclaimed the M.P. "Even if I am," replied the man, "I have
the advantage over you - I shall be sober to-morrow, whereas you will
remain the fool you are to-day."

The question I pose for the list members concerns a periodical called
"Truth" in which this anecdote reportedly appeared. Here is the
reference data that I have:
Truth, vol. xii. p. 112.

Does anyone know if "Truth" has been digitized in some database? I
found volume 10 in Google Books but I cannot find volume 12. The date
is around 1882. Here is a link to what I think is volume 10 of the
periodical:

http://books.google.com/books?id=EcgcAQAAMAAJ&

This reference to "Truth" appears in a footnote to a reprinting of the
anecdote that appeared here:

Cite: 1883 May, The National Review, On the Literary Advantages of
Grub Street by Thomas Tantivy, Page 384, W. H. Allen & Co., London.

http://books.google.com/books?id=fNLUAAAAMAAJ&q=%22be+sober%22#v=snippet&


For interested readers here are some additional examplesin this class
of anecdotes.

Cite: 1890 March 27, The American Stationer, Roundabouts by The Trade
Lounger, Page 745, Column 1, Howard Lockwood & Co., New York.

It is said that a lady and a gentleman the other day entered a
Broadway surface road car at the same moment, the former by the rear
door, the latter by the front. There was only one seat vacant and the
gentleman at once took it, but it happened to be next to one occupied
by a man who evidently "had a load on." This man at once arose and,
offering his seat to the lady, said: "Madam, take my seat; I am drunk
to-day, but to-morrow I shall be sober." Then pointing to the one who
had just sat down, he added: "But that man is a hog to-day and he'll
be a hog to-morrow!"

http://books.google.com/books?id=JztYAAAAYAAJ&q=%22be+sober%22#v=snippet&


Here is a version of the tale in 1892 that once again features M.P.s.

Cite: 1892 December 17, Pick-Me-Up, Page 183, Column 1, Volume 9,
Number 220, Published at the Office of Pick-Me-Up, London.

Two M.P.'s meet in the Lobby, one an ardent --- the other an equally
ardent ---. One has dined "not wisely, but too well," and salutes the
other with: "You're a fool, Brown-Jones, a downright fool."

He is met with the reply: "Now, now, Robinson, you're drunk." To which
the retort is given: "Well, if I am drunk (hic) I shall be sober
to-morrow morning (hic), but a fool is a fool (hic) through all his
life."

http://books.google.com/books?id=bIUXAQAAMAAJ&q=%22be+sober%22#v=snippet&


In 1900 a multi-volume diary was published by Augustus John Cuthbert
Hare and in volume 5 he told a story that fits this pattern. If the
1882 date on the diary entry is correct then this is actually the
earliest instance of the anecdote I have located:

Cite: 1900, The Story of My Life: Volume V by Augustus J. C. Hare,
[Diary entry dated July 16, 1882], Page 362, George Allen, London.
(Google Books full view)

"July 16. -- After luncheon, we had a pleasant walk to Knockholt
Beeches -- Lady Northcote, the two Stanhope brothers, Mr. Banks
Stanhope, Lady Margaret, and I. Afterwards, sitting on the stone
platform in front of the house, Sir Stafford Northcote told us –

"'The great A.B. was tremendously jostled the other day in going down
to the House. A.B. didn't like it. "Do you know who I am?" he said; "I
am a Member of Parliament and I am Mr. A.B." -- "I don't know about
that," said one of the roughs, "but I know that you're a damned fool."
-- "You're drunk," said A.B.; "you don't know what you're saying." --
"Well, perhaps I am rather drunk to-night," said the man, "but I shall
be sober to-morrow morning; but you're a damned fool tonight, and
you'll be a damned fool to-morrow morning."'

There are more examples in 1904, 1911, 1925, 1932, 1936, and 1938, but
I have not verified each one of these citations yet.

If someone can help with the reference to the Truth periodical I would
be very appreciative.

Garson

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