# Am I on the verge of insanity (Churchhill Quote) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2020, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-on-the-verge-of-insanity-churchhill-quote/917473 "2020-08-07T06:16:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-on-the-verge-of-insanity-churchhill-quote/917473/1 "2020-08-07T06:16:03Z")
I am utterly certain that a teacher in High school, a million years ago because I am very old, told me a quote from Winston Churchill " Only a fool offends accidentally, a wise man offends exactly who he means to." But all my searching finds nothing, I am aware of the contra-positive version that Brigham Young said. Did or my teacher make everything up? ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-on-the-verge-of-insanity-churchhill-quote/917473/2 "2020-08-07T06:29:35Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Did or my teacher make everything up? Doesn’t matter. I like you and your teacher’s wisdom just fine. I’m gonna use it early and often. This is closest approximation I could find and it was ‘unknown’. A foolish man takes offense when it isn’t meant. A wise man learns not to take offense when it is." —Unknown ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-on-the-verge-of-insanity-churchhill-quote/917473/3 "2020-08-07T06:32:16Z")
It’s similar to an Oscar Wilde quote: “A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.” ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-on-the-verge-of-insanity-churchhill-quote/917473/4 "2020-08-07T06:36:18Z")
**Little\_Nemo** I like this one very much also. Now I merely have to wait for the right occasion. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-on-the-verge-of-insanity-churchhill-quote/917473/5 "2020-08-07T10:37:24Z")
If Churchill didn’t say it then it’s probably Lincoln who didn’t say it also. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-on-the-verge-of-insanity-churchhill-quote/917473/6 "2020-08-07T10:58:28Z")
I think it was Mark Twain who didn’t say it first. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-on-the-verge-of-insanity-churchhill-quote/917473/7 "2020-08-07T11:20:02Z")
Sounds like a mangled version of something attributed to FE Smith (a leading barrister who later went into politics), who is credited (apocryphally?) with many sharp remarks to judges he tangled with. In this instance, the judge is supposed to have said he was being rude, and Smith is said to have replied “As a matter of fact, m’lud , so are you, but the difference between is that I intended to be”. The original offence might have been caused by another remark of his, when a judge seemed to be dithering over some legal point: "IF your lordship would be pleased to make up what your lordship is pleased to regard as your lordship’s mind… " There’s also a story that in some club or other (or a bar in Parliament) the young Churchill poked Smith in his capacious stomach and said “What are you going to call it?” and got the reply “If it’s a boy I’ll it George after the King, and if it’s a girl, Mary, after the Queen. But if, as I suspect, it’s mostly wind, I’ll call it Winston.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-on-the-verge-of-insanity-churchhill-quote/917473/8 "2020-08-07T13:27:21Z")
“Am I going insane” is an Ozzy Osbourne quote. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/V504yp_9q9M/hqdefault.jpg "Black Sabbath "Am I Going Insane" (radio)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V504yp_9q9M) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-on-the-verge-of-insanity-churchhill-quote/917473/9 "2020-08-07T15:46:43Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > …There’s also a story that in some club or other (or a bar in Parliament) the young Churchill poked Smith in his capacious stomach and said “What are you going to call it?” and got the reply “If it’s a boy I’ll it George after the King, and if it’s a girl, Mary, after the Queen. But if, as I suspect, it’s mostly wind, I’ll call it Winston.” A variant on that tale; see the fourth paragraph here: [Chauncey Depew - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauncey_Depew#Politics) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-on-the-verge-of-insanity-churchhill-quote/917473/10 "2020-08-07T15:56:59Z")
That’s probably more reliable than my source for that particular story. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-on-the-verge-of-insanity-churchhill-quote/917473/11 "2020-08-07T16:21:35Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It’s similar to an Oscar Wilde quote: “A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.” The fabulous Quote Investigator site looked into it and couldn’t pin it down to anyone, although Wilde usually gets the credit. [https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/01/21/offense/](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/01/21/offense/) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-on-the-verge-of-insanity-churchhill-quote/917473/12 "2020-08-07T18:09:04Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The fabulous Quote Investigator site looked into it and couldn’t pin it down to anyone, although Wilde usually gets the credit. I checked it on Brainy Quote, which I consider to be a generally reputable cite.