Churchill quote: spurious?

[Jonathan Lighter]

Thanks for this information, Lora.

Langworth's note goes a long to proving (as far as this sort of negative can
be proved) that Churchill never said it.

The date "Ca1944" is insignificant: all it means is that if he said it, it
was probably during WWII.

Langworth's key statement is: "Unattributed and included tentatively.
Certainly he would never have said it publicly: he was much too careful
about slips like that. It cannot be
found in any memoirs of his colleagues."

In other words, a leading expert in Churchillian quips could find not the
slightest evidence that Winnie really said it, though, conceivably, he
*might* have *thought* something *like* it at *some* point,  and *if* he
did, *maybe* it was during WWII.

JL



On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 8:32 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> Not that I could ever disagree with Victor, but Wiki-P confirms that Abba
> Eban died at 87 in 2002.
>
> It also advises that he "moved to England at an early age." So perhaps his
> accent was Anglo-South-African.
>
> JL
>
>   On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 3:13 AM, imwitty <imwitty at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       imwitty <imwitty at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: Churchill quote: spurious?
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> I don=92t know how reliable is by your opinion the following source, but
>> he=
>> re
>> is what I found in the book =93Churchill by Himself: The Definitive
>> Collect=
>> ion
>> of Quotations=94 edited by Richard M. Langworth (2008), in the section
>> =93America=94, subsection =93Characteristics of Americans=94:
>>
>>
>> =93The Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all
>> othe=
>> r
>> possibilities have been exhausted.=94 -- Circa 1944
>>
>>
>> This entry has the following Langworth=92s note:
>>
>>
>> =93Unattributed and included tentatively. Certainly he would never have
>> sai=
>> d
>> it publicly: he was much too careful about slips like that. It cannot be
>> found in any memoirs of his colleagues. I have let it stand as a likely
>> remark, for he certainly had those sentiments from time to time in World
>> Wa=
>> r
>> II. (See for example the last entry under this heading.)=94
>>
>>
>> Here is the aforementioned entry:
>>
>>
>> =93Their national psychology is such that the bigger the Idea the more
>> wholeheartedly and obstinately do they throw themselves into making it a
>> success. It is an admirable characteristic, providing the Idea is good.=94
>> =
>> --
>>
>> 1952. (WW2 V, 494) [According to the Bibliography, it is on the page 494
>> of
>> the volume V in =93The Second World War=94, 6 vols.. London, Cassell, 1948
>> =
>> =96
>> 1954, by Winston S. Churchill].
>>
>>
>> Lora
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>> Please reply to imwitty at gmail.com
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>> This e-mail is a natural product.  The slight
>> variations in spelling and grammar enhance
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>>
>> =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D
>> =3D=
>>  =3D =3D =3D
>>
>> On Sat, May 14, 2011 at 10:11 AM, Jonathan Lighter
>> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> > -----------------------
>> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> > Subject:      Churchill quote: spurious?
>> >
>> >
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
>> ------
>> >
>> > A conservative contributor to CNN has just uttered the following: "As
>> > Winston Churchill said, 'You can count on the American people to do the
>> > right thing - once they've exhausted every other option.'"
>> >
>> > My vote is that it's Memorex, not real, but I'm only guessing. I haven't
>> > found anything like it in YBQ.
>> >
>> > I can remember when it was Lincoln and Mark Twain who used to say
>> > everything. This Churchill and Orwell business seems ominous somehow.
>> >
>> > JL
>> >
>> >
>> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>> truth=
>> ."
>> >
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>> >
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>> ------------------------------------------------------------
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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