[Ads-l] How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?...

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

In 1927 "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle" reported on a sermon delivered by
Reverend Clarence H. Wilson at the Flatbush Congregational Church:

[ref] 1927 October 24, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Too Much Checking Up
Of One's Life Is Bad, View of Dr. Wilson, Quote Page 13, Column 3,
Brooklyn, New York. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
We make ourselves old by keeping tally of the years. How old would you
be if you didn't know how old you are? Properly, a man is as old as he
feels.
[End excerpt]

To support the Satchel Paige attribution "The Yale Book of Quotations"
and other references point to Garson Kanin's 1978 book "It Takes a
Long Time to Become Young". The same work that Stephen identified.

An Associated Press article in 1977 stated that actress Ruth Gordon
attributed the expression to Satchel Paige when she testified before
the House Select Committee on Aging. (Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin
were married from 1942 to 1985 when Gordon died.)

[ref] 1977 June 7, The Akron Beacon Journal, Toughie by Bert Berliner
(Associated Press), Quote Page D13, Column 5, Akron, Ohio.
(Newspapers_com) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
"As the great baseball player Satchel Paige once said, 'How old would
you be if you didn't know how old you were?'"
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 8:51 AM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
>
> ...said Satchel Paige (1906-1982)?
> GB gives two 1978 hits: Garson Kanin, It Takes a Long Time to Become Young, p. 47; Ron A. Fletcher, Every Body is Beautiful, p. 109.
>
> SG
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org