[Ads-l] Quote Origin: I Used To Be Indecisive, But Now I=?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=99m_?=Not So Sure

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The quip in the subject line has been attributed to Boscoe Pertwee who
supposedly was an eighteenth-century wit. However, this name and
attribution were constructed as a prank.

The earliest known approximate match occurred in the 1970 London play
"The Philanthropist" by British playwright and screenwriter
Christopher Hampton.

The earliest exact match I found appeared in "Manchester Evening News"
on April 27, 1976.

The Quote Investigator article is here:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2024/09/13/indecisive-sure/

Acknowledgement: Special thanks to Nigel Rees who uncovered the
important 1970 citation and determined that the ascription to Pertwee
was false. Rees also found other helpful citations. Additional thanks
to researcher Barry Popik at barrypopik.com who explored this topic
and found significant citations beginning in 1980.

Feedback welcome
Garson O'Toole

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