fun with phrases

[Garson O'Toole]

Here is some "psychobabble" in 1912 that includes the phrase "create
yourself anew", and discusses the theme of remaking yourself
psychologically in a chapter called "The Subconscious".

Cite: 1912, Human Efficiency: A Psychological Study of Modern Problems
by Horatio W. Dresser, Chapter 5: The Subconscious, Page 123, G. P.
Putnam's Sons, New York. (Google Books full view)

<Begin short exert>
You wish to create yourself anew in wiser fashion so that the ideals
of to-day shall constitute the habitual self of to-morrow. Thus you
endeavour to outwit your own consciousness by giving your activity
more resolutely to the ideal, refusing to own these miserable moods
and emotions through which you betray fear, anger, jealousy,
resentment, and the like.
<End excerpt>

More can be read by following this link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=DLUZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22create+yourself%22#v=snippet&

 Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: fun with phrases
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> Or are you suggesting that the application to "self" is
> something that's never been used before?
>
> My tentative answer is yes. The essential attitudes behind these phrases may
> be ancient, even as applied to people (though I'm not sure of that), but if
> so their reduction to simple, easily recalled, and frequently uttered
> cliche's really does seem new.
>
> Think about it: "redefine yourself" - what exactly does that mean? Overhaul
> much of your personality for some psychological or social benefit? That
> seems like a late 20th C. idea to me. Did pre-Freudian generations even
> consider that one could do that, even if one wanted to? And why would you
> want to? If you simply switched jobs, for ex., you were still defined as
> you. Nowadays, maybe not.  "Redefine" also seems to suggest the effective
> power of pure image-making - surely a (?mid-)20th C. notion.
>
> "Reinvent" is similar but suggests getting completely outside yourself to do
> it. The word once had somewhat negative associations, since people were
> sometimes warned "You don't need to reinvent the wheel."
>
> "Don't let the past determine your future": less radical, but again reduced
> by centuries of philosophical and psychological thought into handy,
> apothegmatic form. It also suggests the possibility - in fact the likelihood
> - that one can make a huge change in one's life despite past influences.  It
> seems to presuppose, however, that one is at the mercy of the past right up
> until one chooses to fight back.   I believe the accepted pre-Freudian idea
> was that free will and will power made nonsense of any personal historical
> determinism.
>
> (Personal biological determinism, however, - like being born into "bad
> family" - was believed to be a very real force that might be conquered, only
> rarely, through extraordinary will power. Lincoln was derided as a "gorilla"
> because he came from the far frontier, looked strange, and had a socially
> disapproved accent - which, to the elite, implied stupidity: his rise "from
> log cabin to White House" seemed astonishing. Something similar had been
> true of Robert Burns, from rural Scotland.)
>
> Anyway, it's the conciseness and clarity of the recent phrases, and the now
> blandly familiar assumptions that allow their everyday expression, that I
> find striking. Maybe I should join another list.
>
> JL
>
> On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 1:49 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: fun with phrases
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Not to mention the fact the the slogan of the 2008 presidential campaign
>> was
>> "Change", which is, in part, the same metaphor.
>>
>> Of course, there were a few similar ones along the way:
>>
>> "This is not your [grand]father's Oldsmobile"
>>
>> Still, I am compelled to ask: Is it really new or just a transmogrification
>> of some other cliche from 1932? (or even 1832?)
>>
>> There have always been two opposite direction for any "progress"--expand on
>> your predecessor vs. start anew. This is just conservatism vs. the
>> revolutionary. Or are you suggesting that the application to "self" is
>> something that's never been used before?
>>
>> VS-)
>>
>> On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 12:12 PM, Jonathan Lighter
>> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>> >
>> > Within minutes of each other I've encountered three fairly "recent"
>> cliches
>> > that got me to wondering.  All three are now frequently heard (at least
>> in
>> > my world), but there was a time - in my own lifetime - when they never
>> > were.
>> > In theory, anybody since the rollout of EModE around 1600 could have
>> > uttered
>> > these words spontaneously, but if they did no one was paying much
>> > attention.
>> >
>> > So I did a quick GB search.
>> >
>> > FWIW:
>> >
>> > "redefine yourself": 1966, but not common for a decade.
>> >
>> > "reinvent yourself": 1969, but ditto.
>> >
>> > "Don't let the past determine your future" : 2000.
>> >
>> > "So what?" you say. "These things merely reflect the self-help crazes of
>> > the
>> > age."
>> >
>> > Precisely. Nobody was thinking these things in 1932 and now a hundred
>> > million people are. That suggests a significant cultural change
>> > encapsulated
>> > in just a handful of words.
>> >
>> > Stay tuned.
>> >
>> > JL
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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