[Ads-l] Request help researching adage: Everything is OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end

[Shapiro, Fred]

Quite a crazy quotation.  Usually proverbs express fundamental truths of human existence.  I don't mean to be cynical, but this proverb is ridiculously false, as we all know.

Fred Shapiro



________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2022 11:03 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Request help researching adage: Everything is OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end

Hi Garson,
It's in the Yale Library system (Long-term Shelving Facility) in the
1988 version (as well as a more recent one). I can order the volume if
nobody else has quicker access to it and it will show up at Sterling (the
main library building) in a few days, at which point I can check p. 79.
Let me know!

LH

On Thu, Dec 15, 2022 at 1:25 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> The saying in the subject line has been attributed to John Lennon,
> Oscar Wilde, Paul Coelho, Fernando Sabino, and others. I have received
> nine inquiries for this quotation.
>
> The earliest match I have found appears in a book by Fernando Sabino
> in Brazilian Portuguese (I think). Here are the details. Does your
> research library have this book?
>
> Year: 1988 Copyright
> Book Title: O tabuleiro de damas (The checkerboard)
> Author: Fernando Sabino
> Quote Page 79 (unverified)
> Publisher: Editora Record, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
> Note: Google Books snippet match, the following excerpt is from Google
> Books; text is not  visible in snippet
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> O melhor , talvez , que me lembre, foi o que me disse um dia em que me
> encontrou entregue à aflição de espírito: Meu filho , tudo no fim dá
> certo . Se não deu , é porque ainda não chegou ao fim.
> [End excerpt]
>
> [Begin Google Translate]
> Perhaps the best thing that I can remember is what he said to me one
> day when he found me in the grip of a mental affliction: My son,
> everything works out in the end. If it didn't, it's because it hasn't
> come to an end yet.
> [End Google Translate]
>
> If you can help access this book please let me know on or off list.
> Can you figure out from the context who is using the quotation? Is
> Fernando Sabino attributing the quotation to his father? The goal is
> to get scans of the page with the quotation, the title page, the
> copyright page, the publisher page, and the date.
>
> Below is the earliest match I have found in English:
>
> Usenet discussion message,
> Date: December 22, 2000
> Newsgroup: alt.support.divorce
> From: m miller
> Subject: Re: Happy Christmas? Doubtful
> Accessed: December 15, 2022
>
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fgroups.google.com%2Fgroup%2Falt.support.divorce%2Fmsg%2Fd0fceea4e89c3b8e&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C6637cbb9de784ac534e008dadeb5fd2c%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638067170490054947%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=DbhM3qvwXqfDxzuyW7itJ1JIQXCegTGFKF3f4kPvpeE%3D&reserved=0
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Remember this:  Everything is OK in the end.  If it's not OK, it's not the
> end.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Below is another match in English.
>
> Date: July 15, 2001
> Newspaper: News of the World
> Newspaper Location: London, England
> Section: Features
> Article: Festival of hate shames our land
> Author: Bishop Pat Buckley
> Quote Page Eire 11,
> Database: NewsBank Access World News
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> THESE philosophical musings were sent to me by Sean Morrin, of Derry
> City. Read them slowly-and think about them ...
> True friendship never ends. Friends are for ever.
> Don't frown. You never know who is falling in love with your smile.
> Everything is OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson O'Toole
> QuoteInvestigator.com
>
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