[Ads-l] False attribution for "If you are depressed, ..." (Zen comment, too)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

There is a partial match for the quotation in a journal called Voices.
The year is probably in the range 1977-1979. There is no attribution
visible in the snippets.

The lines excerpted below seem to be part of a poem or quasi-poem
because the phrase "SECOND VERSE" appears a few lines after the
excerpt. Thw lines seem to be adages about psychotherapy.

Journal: Voices
Volume: 12, 13, or 14
Year: 1977, 1978, or 1979
Quote Page 83
(Google Books snippet view; data may be inaccurate; volumes 12, 13,
and 14 are visible in snippets; catalog shows years corresponding to
volumes; years are also visible in snippets)

[Begin excerpt]
The only effective psychotherapy is done for money.
Anger is just depression turned outward.
Living in the past is depression; living in the future is anxiety;
living in the present is living in the present.
If realists are not depressed, does this tell you something about
psychotherapists?
[End excerpt]

Garson


On Mon, Mar 16, 2015 at 4:24 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> Subject:      Re: False attribution for "If you are depressed, ..." (Zen
>               comment, too)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I think that's a Zen thing--or perhaps a Chán thing :) BB
>
>> Jonathan Lighter <mailto:wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> March 16, 2015 at 7:27 AM
>> It doesn't even make sense.  When I live in the future, I'm anxious *and*
>> depressed. When I live in the present, I'm distracted or confused. When I
>> live in the past, then I'm at peace.
>>
>> JL
>>
>> On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 at 8:30 PM, Benjamin Barrett<gogaku at ix.netcom.com>
>> wrote:
>>
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>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett<gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
>>> Subject:      False attribution for "If you are depressed, ..." (Zen
>>> comment,
>>>                too)
>>>
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
>> ------
>>> I just saw the following on Facebook:
>>>
>>> =E2=80=9CIf you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxi=
>> ous you
>>> are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the
>>> present. - Lao Tzu"
>>>
>>> Among the webpages debunking this citation is
>>> http://ianchadwick.com/blog/poor-lao-tzu-he-gets-blamed-for-so-much/,
>>> written by Ian Chadwick on October 9, 2013. I gave up trying to find an
>>> earliest citation for this; the Internet is filled with this quote and
>>> Google is filled with incorrect date hits.
>>>
>>> This claim is not only in English; it can be found in Portuguese. The
>>> earliest I find is 15 April 2012 at http://blogdojj.com.br/tag/passado/.
>>>
>>> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
>>> "Se voc=C3=AA est=C3=A1 deprimido,
>>> Voc=C3=AA est=C3=A1 vivendo no passado:
>>> se voc=C3=AA est=C3=A1 ansioso,
>>> Voc=C3=AA est=C3=A1 vivendo no futuro:
>>> Se voc=C3=AA est=C3=A1 em paz voc=C3=AA est=C3=A1 vivendo
>>> no presente."
>>> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
>>>
>>> In August 2012, http://oquevocegosta.blogspot.com/2012/08/lao-tzu.html
>>> has this exact Portuguese wording, but--despite the Lao Tzu
>>> URL--attributes it to Junia Bretas. This attribution is echoed at
>>> http://www.wisdomcommons.org/wisbits/4785-if-you-are-depressed-you-are.
>>> I do not find it on her website at http://www.juniabretas.info/. Her
>>> book, "Lideran=C3=A7a Estrat=C3=A9gica" is shown at
>>> http://www.juniabretas.info/#!livros/c18tj but cannot be searched.
>>>
>>> As an aside, this quote is tagged as "Zen" at
>>> http://www.movemequotes.com/tag/anxiety/.
>>>
>>
>
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