[Ads-l] Postage Stamp Quotation Controversy

Fri Apr 10 10:46:17 UTC 2015

Recently, the US Postal service released a stamp honoring Maya
Angelou. The stamp has a quotation that apparently did not originate
with Angelou. The Washington Post article below has useful background
information.

I have been asked with some urgency to research this complex topic.
Any help would be welcome.

Newspaper: Washington Post
Article: Book author Joan Walsh Anglund says of Angelou stamp: 'That's my quote'
Author: Lonnae O'Neal
Date: April 6, 2015

http://wapo.st/1IO4MoN

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/book-author-joan-walsh-anglund-claims-angelou-quote-on-stamp/2015/04/06/62d31934-dcc8-11e4-acfe-cd057abefa9a_story.html

The new stamp says the following:
"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."

The earliest known strong match was published in a book of poetry in
1967. Here is the citation. One goal is to try to find an earlier
strong match.

Year: 1967
Book: A Cup of Sun: A Book of Poems
Author: Joan Walsh Anglund
Quote Page 15 (also printed on inside front flap)
Publisher: Harcourt, Brace & World, New York
Note: Verified with scans

[Begin excerpt]
A bird does not sing
     because he has an answer.
He sings
     because he has a song.
[End excerpt]

Currently, I have only found thematic partial matches before 1967.
Here are some examples.

Date: 1886 January 27
Newspaper: Biblical Recorder
Newspaper Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Quote Page 1, Column 7
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
A fountain doesn't flow because of a sense of duty, but because it is
full; and of its fullness it overflows. A bird doesn't sing because it
has to, but because of the inward thrill that most find vent in the
outward trill.
[End excerpt]

Year: 1889
Book title: Christ and Our Country: Or, A Hopeful View of Christianity
in the Present Day
Author: Reverend John B. Robins (of the North Georgia Conferences)
Edition: Second Edition
Published by Publishing House of the M. E. Church, South
Quote Page: 133

https://books.google.com/books?id=Ds4_AAAAYAAJ&q=%22bird+sings%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
A bird sings because it has a song and must sing it.
[End excerpt]

Date: 1902 January 6
Newspaper: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Newspaper location: Brooklyn, New York
Section: Progress the Keynote of Sermons in Many of the Churches
Article: Dr. P.S. Henson On Pressing Onward
Article author: P.S. Henson
Quote Page 12, Column 6
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
The spring does not pour forth because it is its duty, the little bird
does not sing because of duty, but because its little heart would
burst if it did not sing.
[End excerpt]

Year: 1949 Copyright
Book title: The Sage of the Hills: Life Story of the Reverend W. G. "Bill" Lucas
Book author: J. M. Gaskin (Jesse Marvin Gaskin)
Printer and Publisher: Oklahoma Baptist University Press, Shawnee, Oklahoma
Subject: William Gilbert Lucas (1874-1947)
Database: HathiTrust
Quote Page: 36

[Begin excerpt]
It should be remembered that the Nightingale does not sing just
because we listen; it sings because it has a song in its heart.
[End excerpt]

Date: 1950 December 17
Newspaper: Richmond Times Dispatch
Newspaper location: Richmond, Virginia
Article: Jenny Lind Sang Here 100 Years Ago and the Memory Is Still Prodigious
Quote Page A7, Column 5 and 6
Database: GenealogyBank

[Begin excerpt]
The import of it, is, simply this--the bird is asked why it sings and
replies, "I know not, I know not, my heart is so full of song I can't
help it!"

Jenny forgets herself, and becomes the bird, and sings as the bird
sings, because she can't help it.
[End excerpt]

The 1970 citation below appeared after the key 1967 book was
published; hence, the instance below may have been directly or
indirectly linked to Anglund's poem.

Date: 1970 February 9
Newspaper: The Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune
Newspaper location: Chillicothe, Missouri
Article: Letters From Two Girls--After Chillicothe, 'Up With People'
to Paris, White House
Quote Page 9
Database: Newspaper.com

[Being excerpt]
Thoughts from the "Up With People" friends included:
"The bird sings not because he has an answer, but because he has a song."
[End excerpt]

Date: 1970 February 22
Newspaper: Rome News-Tribune
Newspaper location: Rome, Georgia
Article: Mrs. Spencer speaks on birds at Laurel Garden Club meeting
Quote Page 6D, Column 3
Database: Google News Archive

[Begin excerpt]
Mrs. Riddle began her program by saying "A bird doesn't sing because
he has the answer, he sings because he has a song."
[End excerpt]

The 1974 citation below does cite Anglund.

Date: 1974 August 19, Newspaper: St. Petersburg Times
Newspaper location: St. Petersburg, Florida
Section: Pinellas Times
(Quotation was a filler item)
Quote Page 2, Column 2

[Begin excerpt]
"A bird does not sing
Because he lias an answer.
He sings
Because he has a song"

FROM "A CUP OF SUN"
J. W. ANGLUND
[End excerpt]

The 1984 cite below has not been verified on paper. This cite included
the claim that the saying was a "Chinese proverb". I find this
assertion implausible. Apparently, the statement appeared in an
astrology column. Nevertheless, more information on this topic would
be helpful. Verification on paper would be useful.

Year: 1984
Volume 91, Issues 1-3
Title: Mademoiselle
Publisher: Conde Nast, New York
Section: Astrology
Quote Page 144
Database: Google Books snippet; data is imprecise and may be inaccurate

[Begin extracted text]
Your year ahead can be summed up by a lovely Chinese proverb: "A bird
does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a
song."
[End extracted text]

The 1988 cite below also claimed that the saying was a "Chinese
proverb". The text is visible in page scans in the Google News
Archive.

Date: 1988 December 15
Newspaper: New Straits Times
Newspaper location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Section: MCCE Bulletin (Malaysian Council for Computers in Education)
Article: CALL Learning Environment -- the Present And Future
Quote Page 3, Column 4
Database: Google News Archive

[Begin excerpt]
Reminds one of the Chinese proverb: A bird does not sing because it
has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
[End excerpt]

Apparently, Maya Angelou employed the saying during an interview.

Website: Blues GR: Keep the Blues Alive: Blog,
Article title: Dr. Maya Angelou: A Muse In Our Midst
Article description: Interview of Dr. Maya Angelou by Michael Limnios
Date on website: June 1, 2013,
Website description: The online community of people that got the blues
in Greece.
(Accessed blues.gr on April 9, 2015)

http://blues.gr/profiles/blogs/interview-with-dr-maya-angelou-a-muse-who-captivates-audiences

[Begin excerpt]
I wrote the book because "Bird Sings Why The Caged I Know" is a song.
A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer it sings because it has a
song.
[End excerpt]

Garson

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