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

[Benjamin Barrett]

Thank you for finding this excellent citation.

It seems like it could be a convergence. I wonder if Junia Bretas has 
cited that or something similar.

BB

> ADSGarson O'Toole <mailto:adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> March 18, 2015 at 3:47 PM
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole<adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: False attribution for "If you are depressed, ..." (Zen
>                comment, too)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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>  wr=
> ote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------=
> ------
>> 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 Ch=E1n 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:
>>>
>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>> -----------------------
>>>> 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)
>>>>
>>>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------=
> --=3D
>>> ------
>>>> I just saw the following on Facebook:
>>>>
>>>> =3DE2=3D80=3D9CIf you are depressed you are living in the past. If you =
> are anxi=3D
>>> 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/=
> .
>>>> =3D3D=3D3D=3D3D=3D3D=3D3D
>>>> "Se voc=3DC3=3DAA est=3DC3=3DA1 deprimido,
>>>> Voc=3DC3=3DAA est=3DC3=3DA1 vivendo no passado:
>>>> se voc=3DC3=3DAA est=3DC3=3DA1 ansioso,
>>>> Voc=3DC3=3DAA est=3DC3=3DA1 vivendo no futuro:
>>>> Se voc=3DC3=3DAA est=3DC3=3DA1 em paz voc=3DC3=3DAA est=3DC3=3DA1 viven=
> do
>>>> no presente."
>>>> =3D3D=3D3D=3D3D=3D3D=3D3D
>>>>
>>>> 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=3DC3=3DA7a Estrat=3DC3=3DA9gica" 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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