[Ads-l] Quote: Life is a sexually transmitted terminal disease

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

A list member kindly helped me to explore the provenance of the saying
in the subject line after I received an inquiry. Now there is an entry
on the topic:

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/01/29/life/

[Begin acknowledgement excerpt]
Special thanks to Dan J. Bye who identified important citations in
1980 and 1981. He also verified several citations in “The Observer”.
In addition, thanks to Charles Doyle for accessing Guy Bellamy’s book.
Also, thanks to Nigel Rees for his valuable reference “Graffiti 2”.
[End acknowledgement excerpt]

Here is a summary of the results:

1943: Some people think of life as a fatal disease. —Francis T. Cunningham
1968: Life is a hereditary disease. —Anonymous Graffito
1980: Life is a sexually transmitted disease. —Anonymous Graffito
1981: Life is just another sexually transmitted social disease. —Margaret Atwood
1982: Life is a sexually transmitted disease. — attributed to Posy Simmonds
1982: Life is a sexually transmitted disease. —Guy Bellamy
1984: Life is a sexually transmitted terminal disease. —Marilyn Duckworth
1985: Life is a sexually transmitted disease & there’s a 100%
mortality rate. —R. D. Laing

Feedback and interesting citations welcome
Garson

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