[Ads-l] Quote Update: Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

On July 9, 2023 researcher Nur Ibrahim of Snopes posted an article
about the saying in the subject line.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/john-lennon-life-happens-quote/

The Snopes article contained a new (to me) citation with the earliest
known date:

[ref] 1956 December 18, Stockton Record, Section: Editorial Page,
Scissors: A Roundup of Best Humor, Quote Page 34, Column 5, Stockton,
California. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
And In Conclusion
Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.—Publishers
Syndicate.
[End excerpt]

The title of the article in the "Stockton Record" was "Scissors: A
Roundup of Best Humor" which signaled that the item above was
reprinted from another publication

Previously, the earliest known citation was this:

[ref] 1957 January, Reader’s Digest, Quotable Quotes, Quote Page 32,
The Reader’s Digest Association. (Verified on paper) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
Allen Saunders: Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.
—Publishers Syndicate
[End excerpt]

The "Reader's Digest" citation is listed as the earliest citation in
"The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs", "The Quote Verifier", and "The
New Yale Book of Quotations".

I believe that the "Reader's Digest" is still the earliest citation
because the date on the "Reader's Digest" is misleading. The magazine
was actually available at least two weeks before its cover date. I
conjecture that the "Stockton Record" reprinted this item from
"Reader's Digest".

The Quote Investigator article on this topic has been updated to
explain the situation.
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/05/06/other-plans/

Garson

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