Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

"Famous Quote" Post Flawed By Misquote

353 views
Skip to first unread message

Sebastian Rector

unread,
Sep 14, 2008, 8:19:39 AM9/14/08
to
First of all the correct quote is, "If one is under twenty- five and
is not a
socialist, he has no heart; if one is over 25 and still a socialist he
had no
head". The use of alliteration in "heart and head' adds to the
effectiveness of the epigram.

Secondly, the original quote is not by Winston Churchill but by
playwright George Bernard Shaw who was a life-long socialist living
into his eighties.

Thus the quote expresses not what Shaw himself believes. It was
probably a line from a character in one of Shaw's many plays.

And here is something interesting. As a socialist G.B. Shaw strongly
believed in eugenics and social engineering like fellow socialists,
the founder of Canada's NDP Marxist party, Tommy Douglas, and Adolph
Hitler, a National Socialist or Nazi.

Shaw's best play expressing his belief in eugenics is "Man and
Superman"
which we can safely assume has never been read by any ignorant pro-
leftist, like Canada's David Deilley, who no doubt will respond to
this post with a another brainless ad hominem followup.

abelard

unread,
Sep 14, 2008, 8:59:35 AM9/14/08
to

from
http://www.geocities.com/unmark/unquote.html

:-
http://retro.co.za/quotes/eli.html says:
Any man who is not... a socialist before he is 40 has no heart.
Any man who is still a socialist after he is 40 has no head.
- Wendell L. Willkie (quoted by Richard Norton Smith)


http://www.sirius.com/~maya/poetry/republico.html says:
As George Bernard Shaw said,
one who is not a socialist at 20 has no heart,
and one who remains a socialist at 40 has no head.


http://home.planetinternet.be/~smitsr/quotes/b.html says:
The man who is not a socialist at 20 has no heart,
but if he is still a socialist at 40 he has no head.
- Aristide Briand (1862 - 1932)
[French premier and former socialist]


http://bserver.com/bunker/party.html says:
I think it was William Casey [director of the CIA] who said,
A man who isn't a socialist at 20 has no heart,
and a man who is a socialist at 40 has no head.


http://abedul.pntic.mec.es/colaborativos/quotes/list.html says:
Anyone who is not a socialist at 16 has no heart,
but anyone who still is at 32 has no mind.
- Woodrow Wilson


http://jerryk.com/dialogue/dialogue960915.htm says:
He who is not a Socialist at 19, has no heart.
He who is still a Socialist at 30, has no brain.
- Otto Von Bismarck (1815-1896)


http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/Content/1998/12/68/edits/seaton.html
says:
Georges Clemenceau [another French Premier and former socialist]
once said something like:
A 20-year-old who is not a Socialist has no heart,
but a 30-year-old who is still a Socialist has no brains.


http://www.bkkpost.samart.co.th/news/BParchive/BP970911/1109_busi22.html
says:
Not to be a Republican at 20 is proof of want of heart;
to be one at 30 is proof of want of head.
- François Guisot (1787-1874)
and:
A man who is not a liberal at 16 has no heart;
a man who is not a conservative at 60 has no head.
- Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)
and:
Not to be a socialist at 20 is proof of want of heart;
to be one at 30 is proof of want of head.
- Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929)
and:
Any man who is under 30 and is not a Liberal has no heart; and
any man who is over 30 and not a Conservative has no brains.
- Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

A definitive answer arose in the wonderful book
"Nice Guys Finish Seventh: False Phrases, Spurious Sayings,
and Familiar Misquotations" by Ralph Keyes, 1992. He writes:

"An orphan quote [unattributed quote in search of a home] sometimes
attributed to Georges Clemenceau is:
Any man who is not a socialist at age 20 has no heart.
Any man who is still a socialist at age 40 has no head.
The most likely reason is that Bennet Cerf once reported Clemenceau's
response to a visitor's alarm about his son being a communist:
If he had not become a Communist at 22, I would have disowned him.
If he is still a Communist at 30, I will do it then.
George Seldes later quoted Lloyd George as having said:
A young man who isn't a socialist hasn't got a heart;
an old man who is a socialist hasn't got a head.
The earliest known version of this observation is attributed to
mid-nineteenth century historian and statesman François Guizot:
Not to be a republican at 20 is proof of want of heart;
to be one at 30 is proof of want of head.
Variations on this theme were later attributed to Disraeli, Shaw,
Churchill, and Bertrand Russell. (I misquoted Churchill to this
effect for years.)"


--
web site at www.abelard.org - news comment service, logic, economics
energy, education, politics, etc 1,552,396 document calls in year past
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
all that is necessary for [] walk quietly and carry
the triumph of evil is that [] a big stick.
good people do nothing [] trust actions not words
only when it's funny -- roger rabbit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

bluedev...@yahoo.com

unread,
Sep 14, 2008, 10:51:16 AM9/14/08
to
> web site atwww.abelard.org- news comment service, logic, economics

>  energy, education, politics, etc 1,552,396 document calls in year past
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------­-----

>   all that is necessary for       []     walk quietly and carry
>   the triumph of evil is that      []           a big stick.
>   good people do nothing     []   trust actions not words
>                     only when it's funny -- roger rabbit
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------­------ Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Seems all great minds agree. Old solialists are fools.

david.de...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 14, 2008, 1:01:19 PM9/14/08
to
On Sep 14, 5:19 am, Sebastian Rector <cicer...@rogers.com> wrote:

> leftist, like Canada's David Deilley, who no doubt will respond to
> this post with a another brainless ad hominem followup.

Every post you make is like an ad hominem attack on yourself... it's
as if you deliberately set pout to provike ridicule, parody and
disrespect.

0 new messages