Jan 14 - Quote Book

Many of the quotes that I am adding at the end of my posts are from a book I got a couple of years ago titled "The Yale Book of Quotations". It prides itself on tracking famous quotations back to their true source. It has almost 1100 pages in the book with very fine print in 4 column layout.

I have learned over the past year that several quotes that are attributed to famous people never were actual said by the person. I have also found this is true with word origins (e.g handicap did not come from "cap in hand"). This lesson was also stressed when we got a letter from Church headquarters a couple of years ago cautioning us (church leaders) to make sure any quotation we used could be tracked back to their source (especially with regards to quoting General Authorities).

If you have a question about a quote's source, or a word origin, I would suggest that you Goggle it and see what you find out. I feel it is important to be as accurate as possible when we quote someone.

For example there is a famous quote attributed to Nelson Mandela that he supposedly gave in his inaugural speech in Jan 1984. It is a fantastic quote, but something that he did not say. It goes as follows:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Marianne Williamson - A Return to Love