May you live in interesting times origin?
RoninofAko
Chuang Tzu, Lao Tzu? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.
Sam Hobbs
RoninofAko <ronin...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19990924165156...@ng-fj1.aol.com...
> I recognize this quote as a Chinese proverb, but is it derived from
Confucious,
> Chuang Tzu, Lao Tzu? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.
This may or may not be a Chinese proverb or "curse". There is a lengthy
article in the FAQ discussing this at
http://www.mindspring.com/~samhobbs/alt-quotations/quotations.html#interesti
ngtimes
I have reproduced it below:
May you live in interesting times.
--- ancient Chinese curse
Stephen E. DeLong, a professor at University at Albany/SUNY, has done a
fairly extensive amount of research on this. He comments that the full curse
is:
May you live in interesting times and attract the attention of important
people.
It has also been suggested that the full curse should be:
May you live in interesting times and attract the attention of important
people and may all of your dreams come true.
His research determined that "it may be neither ancient nor Chinese nor a
curse."
It has been suggested as being Chinese, Jewish, and Scottish. It has also
been characterized as being "definitely not Chinese" and has been
specifically attributed to Confucious as well in an alternate form:
May you be born in an important time.
The earliest confirmed citation is 1950 in a science fiction story by Eric
Frank Russell (see below list).
The following is a list of citations investigated by Dr. DeLong: (where the
quotation occurs in the title or is described internally or where it is said
to have occurred)
1995 book, May You Live in Interesting Times by Tereze Glück, a collection
of short stories: the author believed it was Chinese, but it had been
suggested to her that it was Jewish.
199x book, Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett, where it is characterized
as an ancient Chinese curse, although Mr. Pratchett believes that the origin
of the curse is fairly recent.
1978 Book of Insults by Nancy McPhee who cites it as a Scottish insult.
June 7, 1966 speech by Robert Kennedy in Capetown, SA in which it is cited
as a Chinese curse.
April 1950 short story "U-Turn" by Duncan H. Munro (a pseudonym for Eric
Frank Russell) in Astounding Science Fiction.
circa 1938: Old Sydney Greenstreet movie such as The Maltese Falcon or The
Three Strangers, but when a helper viewed the movies, he could not find the
statement.
1931 book, The Secret of the Golden Flower by Carl G. Jung, but Dr. DeLong
has not been able to find the statement in the translation he looked at.
I highly recommend that Dr. DeLong's web pages provide a fascinating account
of internet based research:
http://hawk.fab2.albany.edu/sidebar/sidebar.htm
(the complete account)
http://hawk.fab2.albany.edu/interneting/netimes.htm
(some introductory info, but primary focus on other things)
I hope this helps.
Sam