[Ads-l] Proverb: Give a man a fish versus teach a man to fish

[Jonathan Lighter]

http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/Give-a-man-a-fish-he-ll-eat-for-a-day-Teach-a-man-to-sue-and-he-ll-ea-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8546098_.htm

JL

On Sat, Aug 29, 2015 at 3:34 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Proverb: Give a man a fish versus teach a man to fish
>
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>
> The following saying has been examined by Ralph Keyes in "The Quote
> Verifier", Fred R. Shapiro in "The Yale Book of Quotations", and Barry
> Popik at "The Big Apple".
>
> Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and
> he will eat for a lifetime.
>
> Way back in August 2010 I posted to the ADS list with a relevant
> citation from 1885, but Ralph Keyes had already included the 1885
> citation in "The Quote Verifier". I also posted a 1911 cite that
> remains pertinent.
>
> Now an entry on this topic has been placed on the Quote Investigator
> website, and the individuals listed above were acknowledged together
> with ADS discussants George Thompson and Victor Steinbok.
>
> Here is a link to Barry's entry:
> http://bit.ly/1iagfb9
>
> Here is a link to the QI website:
> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/08/28/fish/
>
> Feedback welcome,
> Garson
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 10:45 AM, Garson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day.  Teach a man to fish and
> > he will eat for a lifetime.
> >
> > This proverb was discussed by Fred Shapiro at the excellent Quotes
> > Uncovered NYT blog yesterday. The instances can be grouped into
> > clusters. Here are some early examples of three basic variants
> > starting in 1885.
> >
> >
> http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/quotes-uncovered-teaching-a-man-to-fish/
> >
> > Cite: 1885, "Mrs Dymond" by "Miss Thackeray (Mrs. Richmond Ritchie)"
> > aka Anne Isabella Ritchie, Page 342, Smith, Elder, & Co., London.
> > (Google Books full view)
> >
> > 'He certainly doesn't practise his precepts, but I suppose the Patron
> > meant that if you give a man a fish he is hungry again in an hour. If
> > you teach him to catch a fish you do him a good turn. But these very
> > elementary principles are apt to clash with the leisure of the
> > cultivated classes.'
> >
> > http://books.google.com/books?id=8Q8GAAAAQAAJ&q=precepts#v=snippet&
> >
> > The quote also appeared in an excerpt of the book "Mrs. Dymond" that
> > was published in "Macmillan's Magazine" in 1885 August. The excerpt
> > was republished in "Littell's Living Age" on 1885 September 5.
> >
> > Cite: 1885 August, Macmillan's Magazine, "Mrs. Dymond: Chapter XX:
> > Almsgiving", Page 246, Volume 52, Macmillan and Co, London and New
> > York. (Google Books full view)
> >
> > http://books.google.com/books?id=5RpVvebZ4OoC&q=precepts#v=snippet&
> >
> >
> > Cite: 1911, The Common Growth by M. Loane, Page 139, Longmans, Green &
> > Co, New York. (Google Books full view)
> >
> > It is an oft-quoted saying, and one full of social wisdom: "Give a man
> > a fish, and he will be hungry again to-morrow; teach him to catch a
> > fish, and he will be richer all his life."
> >
> > http://books.google.com/books?id=9OgsAAAAYAAJ&q=%22a+fish%22#v=snippet&
> >
> >
> > Cite: 1962 October 23, Winnipeg Free Press, "New Threat: Hunger", Page
> > 18, Column 6, Winnipeg, Manitoba. (NewspaperArchive)
> >
> > As a fitting motto for the Committee's work, Miss Speers quoted a
> > Chinese proverb: "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day-if
> > you teach him to fish, you feed him for many days."
> >
> > Garson
>
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