[Ads-l] Quote: The pleasure is momentary, the position ridiculous, and the expense damnable

[Robin Hamilton]

Hey, Garson, just because I'm not Irish doesn't mean I wasn't born in a stable
(as Wellington probably didn't say).

Robin

> 
>     On 17 April 2017 at 16:35 ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
> 
> 
>     Thanks, R.H. Your associative memory is Shavian. The same phrase from
>     Shakespeare was cited by Shaw in a private letter in 1928 when he
>     mentioned the quotation and linked it to "The Aberdonian".
>     Garson
> 
>     On Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 4:39 AM, Robin Hamilton
>     <robin.hamilton3 at virginmedia.com> wrote:
>     > For some reason, this reminds me of Sir Thomas Browne (who nevertheless
>     > later
>     > engendered a son):
>     >
>     > "I could be content that we might procreate like trees, without
>     > conjunction, or
>     > that there were any way to perpetuate the world without this trivial and
>     > vulgar
>     > act of coition ..."
>     >
>     > _Religio Medici_, Section 9. [Cited from WIKIQUOTE]
>     >
>     > There's also the Shakespearean sonnet beginning, "The expense [sic] of
>     > spirit in
>     > a waste [or is it "waist"?] of shame ..."
>     >
>     > In those far-off pre-viagra days, Renaissance poets (perhaps most
>     > notably, John
>     > Donne) were much preoccupied by the fleeting nature of carnal pleasure.
>     >
>     > And who can forget those luminous words of Saul of Tarsus [a.k.a. 'the
>     > hatchetman of the Sanhedrin']: "Better to marry than burn."
>     >
>     > R.H.
>     >
>     >>
>     >> On 17 April 2017 at 07:52 ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>     >> wrote:
>     >>
>     >>
>     >> Back in 2012 I shared some citations for the quotation in the subject
>     >> line. Now I've located an earlier close match in a letter sent to the
>     >> editors of "The Western Daily Press" in Bristol, England in 1902. The
>     >> subject was the standardization of equipment for golf, and the word
>     >> "amusement" was employed to avoid terms such as "intercourse" or
>     >> "sex". In addition, the taboos of the era dictated the replacement of
>     >> "damnable" by dashes:
>     >>
>     >> [ref] 1902 November 20, The Western Daily Press, Correspondence To The
>     >> Editors of The Western Daily Press, (Letter Title: Standardisation of
>     >> the Golf Ball, Letter From: W.L.B. of Clifton; Letter Date: November
>     >> 17, 1902), Quote Page 3, Column 7, Bristol, England. (British
>     >> Newspaper Archive)[/ref]
>     >>
>     >> [Begin excerpt]
>     >> If there is to be no limit to the fancy or ingenuity of club and ball
>     >> makers, I am afraid the dictum of a certain American, speaking of
>     >> another amusement, will be applicable to golf, viz., "that the
>     >> pleasure is momentary, the attitudes ridiculous, and the expense
>     >> -----"
>     >> [End excerpt]
>     >>
>     >> An article is now available in the QI website:
>     >>
>     >> The Pleasure Is Momentary, the Position Is Ridiculous, the Expense Is
>     >> Damnable
>     >> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/04/16/pleasure/
>     >>
>     >> Feedback welcome
>     >> Garson
>     >>
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>     >>
>     >
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