Misquoting Thomas Jefferson
Misattributions of quotes is common - typically if the question is 'Who first said that?' the answer is likely to be Shakespeare, Dorothy Parker, or Oscar Wilde.
Apparently the line 'A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle' is an orphan - while often attributed to Gloria Steinem, she denies it is hers.
Now we have the claim that 'Dissent is the highest form of patriotism', attributed to Thomas Jefferson. Of course it's tremendously useful if you want to claim Jefferson's figurative support for anything dissenting, and cloak yourself in 'patriotism' while so doing.
But as Mark Steyn argues:
'Thomas Jefferson would never have said anything half so witless. There is no virtue in dissent per se. When John F. Kennedy said, "We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty" -- and, believe it or not, that's a real quote, though it's hard to imagine any Massachusetts Democrat saying such a thing today -- I could have yelled out, "Hey, screw you, loser." It would have been "dissent," but it wouldn't have been patriotic, and it's certainly not a useful contribution to the debate.'
read more here
What amuses and puzzles me is how many people are willing to keep using a debunked quote like this one, when any copy of Bartlett's will offer up a wealth of options to get 'support' for any argument from historical figures.
Apparently the line 'A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle' is an orphan - while often attributed to Gloria Steinem, she denies it is hers.
Now we have the claim that 'Dissent is the highest form of patriotism', attributed to Thomas Jefferson. Of course it's tremendously useful if you want to claim Jefferson's figurative support for anything dissenting, and cloak yourself in 'patriotism' while so doing.
But as Mark Steyn argues:
'Thomas Jefferson would never have said anything half so witless. There is no virtue in dissent per se. When John F. Kennedy said, "We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty" -- and, believe it or not, that's a real quote, though it's hard to imagine any Massachusetts Democrat saying such a thing today -- I could have yelled out, "Hey, screw you, loser." It would have been "dissent," but it wouldn't have been patriotic, and it's certainly not a useful contribution to the debate.'
read more here
What amuses and puzzles me is how many people are willing to keep using a debunked quote like this one, when any copy of Bartlett's will offer up a wealth of options to get 'support' for any argument from historical figures.
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