Hee hee - you said “gravy tas.”
detop
April 16, 2010, 6:55pm
63
Maybe someone gave her the colouring book ?
Actually, I got the impression it was the reverse. But, YMMV.
I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the typo and the missing comma are from the original …
CalMeacham:
It strikes me as an extremely vapid quote, pseudo-profound and taking different interpretations, as the mood strikes. But with “nice” in it, it sounds like it belongs on a poster with rainbows and unicorns.
Or unicorns pissing rainbows!
Aha! The source revealed! It’s John Watson – not Sherlock Holmes’ companion and biographer, but a real-life theologian who wrote this back in the early 20th century. he later quoted himself under a pseudonym, which is sneaky.
John Watson (3 November 1850 – 6 May 1907), was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He is remembered as an author of fiction, known by his pen name Ian Maclaren.
The son of John Watson, a civil servant, he was born in Manningtree, Essex, and educated at Stirling. His paternal uncle Rev Hiram Watson (1813-1891) was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland and John appears to have chosen to follow in his shoes.
He studied at Edinburgh University, then trained as a Free Church minister ...
Only his version is “Be pitiful, for everyone is fighting a hard battle”:
The quote “Be kind for everyone is fighting a hard battle” is attributed to Plato. Is it from one of his works?–65.31.214.178 23:50, 30 September 2005 (UTC)
On Kindness by Lawrence J. Danks attributes the quote "Be kind - everyone is fighting a hard battle" to John Watson, while The Complete Idiot's Guide to Handwriting Analysis by Sheila R. Lowe attributes it to Felix Klein, though both could simply have heard it elsewhere.
I found no mention of this quote in a recent review of Hoyt's New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations (K. L. Roberts, 1940) and The International Thesaurus of Quotations (R. T. Tripp, 1987). I'll keep looking. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 16:16, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
I've actually seen this quote attributed to Philo, a Greek philosopher (15 BC - 50 BC), but not in any reliable source other than quote sites. I don't know if that helps, but I'll also look to see if I can find it in anything more reliable. ~ UDScott 16:23, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
Also not found in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (1919), The Columbia World of Quotations (1996), Simpson's Contemporary Quotations (1988), or Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989). Nothing remotely resembling this quote can be found in these either for Plato or Philo, and Felix Klein (assuming Lowe means the German mathematician) isn't quoted in any of these references. Does Danks say which "John Watson" said this, and/or when? ~ Jeff Q (talk) 23:58, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
Here (under September 19 and September 15) is excellent evidence that the 'hard battle' adage isn't a quotation from Philo: a number of Philo scholars agree that they've never come across it in his works. So apparently it isn't by him, and I must say it doesn't sound at all like Plato to me. However one man on the blog linked above does identify the phrase 'Everyone is fighting a hard battle' as a commentary on the Biblical phrase 'brotherly kindness', made by Biblical scholar Ozora S Davis in 1920. Could that be the origin? Antiquary 20:52, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
To answer my own question, no it couldn't. Four years earlier A Savage Club Souvenir (privately printed, 1916), p. 69, quoted it thus: '"Be pitiful, for everyone is fighting a hard battle," said Ian Maclaren'. And two years before that: 'Dr. Watson's Christmas message to the world, "Be pitiful, every man is fighting a hard battle" is more generally needed than we realize, because it is so universally true' (George MacAdam The Harps of God (1914) p. 73). These are not two different authors, both of them are Ian Maclaren, pseudonym of John Watson (1850-1907). An undateable extract from the Windsor Magazine found on Google Book gives a further clue:
But just as a sailor is said to have a sweetheart in every port, so I must confess to a favourite quotation in any number of books. For working purposes, however, the following is hard to beat - 'Be pitiful, for every man is fighting a hard battle.' I wish I could say it was of my own coining, but it is from the British Weekly, where it appeared as my friend Ian Maclaren's Christmas Greeting.
Just to muddy the waters a little more, when this 'pitiful' version turns up on the Web it's often attributed to T H Thompson. Who he? Antiquary 15:12, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wikiquote:Reference_desk/Archive/2
Just a last note – It’s interesting how “Be pitiful, for every man is fighting a hard battle” morphed by stages into the perky-cute “Be nice to everyone”
The only “Plato” this dumb bitch ever read was the Plate o’ Shrimp on the local shithole menu in Wasilla.
Take that back! I’m sure she’s read Plato in the Beetle Bailey comic strip too. link
Perhaps it was some obscure reference to Play Doh.
The real point is that no matter who said, it is about as empty and useless a thing as can be said. “Be nice to everyone”? Really? Deep thoughts attributed to a deep thinker. My guess is ti wass actually quote she learned from Barney…or off a Hallmark card.
As a beauty contestant, I’m sure she also wished for world peace.
That and, as Ms. South Carolina Teens wished, maps so people can learn about geography.
Kimstu
April 16, 2010, 11:09pm
74
According to Muffin ’s link, she claims Canadian heritage:
For much of her address, Ms. Palin attempted to build references to Canadiana into folksy tales of her life.
One of her grandfathers was born in Manitoba, she said, and another in Saskatchewan. Both of them were bootleggers.
And how on earth did I miss this little gem previously?
Gyrate:
I’m interested by this:
Nine hundreds [sic] tickets were sold at $200 a pop for the politician’s address at Carmen’s Banquet Hall billed as “An Intimate Evening with Sarah Palin.”
For a rumoured $200,000 speaker fee, Ms. Palin delivered few intimate details and more non-stop stream of consciousness in her hour-long speech.
…
I’m interested by this, $200 a pop for “An Intimate Evening with Sarah Palin" … I’dve thought it’d be more!
CMC fnord!
AWB
April 17, 2010, 12:58am
76
Yes, well the Canadian government has apologized for Bryan Adams on several occasions!
Muffin
April 17, 2010, 2:24am
77
She can read more than hand notes? Who’d a thunk it.
:eek:
Sweet, merciful heavens; please tell me that corroboration wasn’t provided by the person who it appears to have been provided by!
You know, my (Canadian) FIL LOVES Sarah Palin. Honestly, thinks she’s brilliant. Believes that the reason women don’t like her is because her ass is smaller than theirs.
He’s going to be very sad she’s too far away to visit.
Kimstu
April 17, 2010, 2:48am
80
Hmmm. You know, if he would be willing to keep her locked in a basement with no media access, I think maybe we could do a deal.
What do they mean, “another” grandfather rather than “the other”? How many grandfathers does Ms. Palin have, anyway?