Quote: They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Sun Apr 6 16:46:37 UTC 2014


The subject line of this message contains a popular piece of advice
for speakers and teachers that I've been asked to trace. Nowadays, the
saying is often attributed to Maya Angelou.

The earliest evidence I've found appeared in a 1971 collection titled
"Richard Evans' Quote Book". The statement was ascribed to Carl W.
Buehner who was a high-level official in The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints:

[ref] 1971, Richard Evans' Quote Book by Richard L. Evans, ("Selected
from the 'Spoken Word' and 'Thought for the Day' and from many
inspiring thought-provoking sources from many centuries") Quote Page
244, Column 2, Publishers Press, Salt Lake City, Utah. (Verified with
scans; thanks to the librarians of Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham
Young University, Provo, Utah)[/ref]

They may forget what you said -- but they will never forget how you
made them feel.
 --Carl W. Buehner

Any evidence before 1971 would be welcome, thanks. There is an
analysis available on the QI website discussing the attribution to
Angelou and presenting other citations.

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/04/06/they-feel/

Garson

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



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