Quote: There but for the grace of God go I

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

LH wrote:
> And supposedly it was Churchill, somewhat later, who adapted this to
>
> "There but for the grace of God goes God".
>
> referring to Sir Stafford Cripps, who is otherwise mostly remembered
> for the on-air spoonerism rendering him "Sir Stifford Crapps".


Thanks LH. The joke you mention provides an excellent example of the
cultural resonance of this saying. Indeed, the exploration of the
Bradford quotation was motivated by an investigation of the
Churchill/Mankiewicz attributed jest. Back in 2012 I located an
earlier instance written by Walter Winchell. Here is the ADS mailing
list message:

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ADS-L;26ce426d.1202A

Now, I am finally preparing a QI entry on the Churchill / Mankiewicz /
Winchell / Anonymous quip and could not avoid talking about Bradford.

Garson


> On Jun 20, 2014, at 2:21 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
>
>> The benchmark reference The Yale Books of Quotations has an entry for
>> the saying listed in the subject line of this message.
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> John Bradford
>> English martyr, ca. 1510–1555
>>
>> [On seeing criminals being led to execution: ] But for the grace of
>> God there goes John Bradford.
>>
>> Quoted in The Writings of John Bradford (1853). Usually quoted as
>> "There but for the grace of God go I."
>> [End excerpt]
>>

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