Look up the following quotation and you are sure to find it credited as coming from Albert Schweitzer: “Revenge… is like a rolling stone, which, when a man hath forced up a hill, will return upon him with a greater violence, and break those bones whose sinews gave it motion.” What’s unfortunate is that he never said it, wrote it- those are not his words! They are the words of an English clergyman named Jeremy Taylor. See the ellipsis? That should make the quote questionable all by itself. With every quotation, you are able to trace its origin, however, this quote sends you on a wild goose chase because of the incorrect attributed author. The original quote can be found in the book “The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D”
Here it is in its original form:
He does a thing which ought to trouble him, and will move him to pity what his own vile hands have acted; but if he does not pity, that is, be troubled with himself, and wish the things undone, he hath those affections by which the devil doth rejoice in destroying souls; which affections a man cannot have, unless he be perfectly miserable, by being contrary to God, to mercy, and to felicity; and after all, the pleasure is false, fantastic, and violent, it can do him no good, it can do him hurt, it is odds but it will, and on him that takes revenge, revenge shall be taken, and by a real evil he shall dearly pay for the goods that are but airy and fantastical; it is like a rolling stone, which, when a man hath forced up a hill, will return upon him with a greater violence, and break those bones whose sinews gave it motion.
So, the lesson here is that one should have their facts clear before ever alleging that someone said something.
End of line.
-T
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Agreed.
That’s awesome. However, it is pretty cumbersome to track down every eloquent quote’s original author. Ultimately, it’s probably better to say “often attributed to” or just leave the author out for the sake of avoiding misinformation.
What you’re saying is to never associate Schweitzer as having anything to do with this quote? I would agree, but in this exercise, both names had to be mentioned so that the facts could be made clear. Tracking this quote to its true origin was a delight, and never cumbersome. I do, however, thank you for your kind words and suggestions.
-T