Quotes and Attributions
For years I’ve been attributing this quote to page 570 of Alcoholic’s Anonymous’ Big Book where it attributes the quote to Herbert Spencer.
“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation.”
Yesterday I used it in a forum I belong to and was told Spencer didn’t say this at all and was referred to The Survival of a Fitting Quotation.
Well darn… whose right? Michael StGeorge sounds like he knows what he’s talking about, and he’s got a whole bunch of examples. But how are we to know for sure?
We probably can’t. All we can do is our best to get it right.
Write well and often,
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POSTED IN: Musings From A Freelance Writer
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