paranoid

[Ben Zimmer]

On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 11:35 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>
> At 11:18 AM -0400 5/16/11, Garson O'Toole wrote:
>>Cite: 1967 July 21, Christianity Today, Dear Slogan-Lovers by Etychus
>>III, Page 20, Christianity Today International, Carol Stream,
>>Illinois. (Verified on microfilm)
>>
>>When it comes to expressing their views on life, they say by button:
>>"I Want to Be What I Was When I Wanted To Be What I Now Am,"
>
> I remember spotting a different version of this one in 1972 in the
> form of a pithy [sorry] men's room graffito:
>
> I WISH I COULD BE WHAT I WAS
> WHEN I WISHED I COULD BE WHAT I AM
>
>>  or
>>"Neuroses Are Red, Melancholy Is Blue, I'm Schizophrenic, What Are
>>You?,"

I thought this one canonically went "...I'm schizophrenic, and so am
I." Or perhaps that was a later variation, changing the expected rhyme
as a rug-pulling technique (a la "Shaving Cream").

>> or "End Poverty, Give Me $10." They further advise: "Reality Is
>>Good Sometimes for Kicks But Don't Let It Get You Down," and "Even
>>Paranoids Have Real Enemies."

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