[Ads-l] Quote Update: Believe Nothing You Hear, and Only One Half That You See (Before Edgar Allan Poe)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Way back in June 2017 there was a thread about the adage in the
subject line which has been attributed to Edgar Allan Poe.
JL, Wilson Gray, and I participated in the thread.

https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2017-June/148451.html

A Quote Investigator article was posted which presented an 1845 short
story by Poe as the earliest citation, but recently I was told about
citations dated 1831 and 1843. So the QI article has been updated

Quote Origin: Believe Nothing You Hear, and Only One Half That You See
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/06/23/half-see/

In 1831 William Johnson Neale published the novel "Cavendish: Or The
Patrician at Sea" in which a character who was a naval officer
employed the adage:

[ref] 1831, Cavendish: Or The Patrician at Sea by Anonymous (William
Johnson Neale), Volume 1 of 3, Chapter 5, Quote Page 59, Henry Colburn
and Richard Bentley, London. (Google Books Full View) link [/ref[]

https://books.google.com/books?id=pZme1YXq_E4C&q=%22nothing+you%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
"The rule with us is, believe nothing you hear, and but half you see."
[End excerpt]

Hence, William Johnson Neale is a candidate for creator of the adage;
however, I believe the saying was probably already in circulation in
the Royal Navy.

Feedback welcome
Garson

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