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

Thu Dec 15 22:02:21 UTC 2022

Reminds me of the skiers’ adage, that you always get injured on the last run of the day.

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From: ADSGarson O'Toole<mailto:adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2022 12:55 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto: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

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Request help researching adage: Everything is OK in the end.
              If it's not OK, it's not the end
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fred Shapiro wrote:
> 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.

The saying appears to be popular based on the number of inquiries I
have received. Here are three interpretations:

(1) Eschatological stance
(2) Karmic stance
(3) Heuristic for consuming upbeat works of fiction with multiple twists

Garson

> 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 =C3=A0 afli=C3=A7=C3=A3o de esp=C3=ADrito: Meu filho=
 , tudo no fim d=C3=A1
> > certo . Se n=C3=A3o deu , =C3=A9 porque ainda n=C3=A3o 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=3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fgrou=
ps.google.com%2Fgroup%2Falt.support.divorce%2Fmsg%2Fd0fceea4e89c3b8e&data=
=3D05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C6637cbb9de784ac534e008dadeb5fd2c%7Cd=
d8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638067170490054947%7CUnknown%7CTW=
FpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3=
D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=3DDbhM3qvwXqfDxzuyW7itJ1JIQXCegTGFKF3f4kPvpeE%3D&re=
served=3D0
> >
> > [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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