Help on Mark Twain quote
jogo...@mtroyal.ab.ca
Can anyone tell me from which Mark Twain story comes the following
(paraphrased) quote:
" What's amazing is not that he does it well, but that
he can do it at all!"
I believe the quote is in reference to a dog walking down the street on his
hind legs (or something similar).
Any and all help greatly appreciated.
John O'
Vance Maverick
In article <1996Sep11....@mtroyal.ab.ca> jogo...@mtroyal.ab.ca writes:
> Can anyone tell me from which Mark Twain story comes the following
> (paraphrased) quote:
> " What's amazing is not that he does it well, but that
> he can do it at all!"
> I believe the quote is in reference to a dog walking down the street on his
> hind legs (or something similar).
I thought that was Winston Churchill. ;-) No, it's Dr. Johnson.
"Sir, a woman preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder legs.
It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."
Vance (such sexism -- assuming the dog is a he!)
Robert Teeter
jogo...@mtroyal.ab.ca wrote:
: Can anyone tell me from which Mark Twain story comes the following
: (paraphrased) quote:
: " What's amazing is not that he does it well, but that
: he can do it at all!"
: I believe the quote is in reference to a dog walking down the street on his
: hind legs (or something similar).
Mark Twain may have said something like this, but an earlier
source is Samuel Johnson. Someone (Boswell probably) asked him what he
thought of a woman preacher, and he answered that such an occurence is
like a walking dog and followed that with a quote much like what you have
above. You can probably find the exact quote in Bartlett's Familiar
Quotations or the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. I think it's from
Boswell's _Life of Samuel Johnson, L.L.D._
--
Bob Teeter (rte...@netcom.com) | "Write me a few of your lines"
http://www.wco.com/~rteeter/ | -- Mississippi Fred McDowell
"You might say that, but I couldn't possibly comment." -- Francis Urquhart
"Only connect" -- E. M. Forster
Lars Carlzon
Vance Maverick wrote:
jogorman writes:
<snip>
I believe the quote is in reference to a dog walking down the
street on his hind legs (or something similar).
I thought that was Winston Churchill. ;-) No, it's Dr. Johnson.
"Sir, a woman preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder
legs.
It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at
all."
Vance (such sexism -- assuming the dog is a he!)
A dog is a he.
A bitch is a she.
Lars
Susan Ramirez
In article <32371D...@stockholm.mail.telia.com>,
lars.c...@stockholm.mail.telia.com wrote:
> Vance Maverick wrote:
>
> "Sir, a woman preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder
> legs.
> It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at
> all."
>
> Vance (such sexism -- assuming the dog is a he!)
>
> A dog is a he.
> A bitch is a she.
Nonsense. A male dog is a dog and a female dog is a bitch, but "a dog"
might be either. There's nothing odd about any of these sentences:
She's a good dog.
What kind of dog is she?
Please call your dog. She's humping my leg.
Susan Ramirez Mombat to Phoebe, 4,
ram...@frii.com & Simon, 9 months
...as if reading a book were not also a profoundly antisocial act...
Fiona Webster
Vance Maverick wrote:
> "Sir, a woman preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder
> legs.
> It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at
> all."
>
> Vance (such sexism -- assuming the dog is a he!)
>
> A dog is a he.
> A bitch is a she.
Susan Ramirez replied
>Nonsense. A male dog is a dog and a female dog is a bitch, but "a dog"
>might be either. There's nothing odd about any of these sentences:
>
>She's a good dog.
>What kind of dog is she?
>Please call your dog. She's humping my leg.
No, there's nothing odd about any of those sentences, Susan,
but go back and read the Twain again. Twain says about "a dog"
that's walking on *his* "hinder legs."
And furthermore, you didn't get Vance's joke.
--Fiona
Susan Ramirez
In article <51roko$96c...@fi.smart.net>, f...@oceanstar.com (Fiona Webster)
wrote:
> Vance Maverick wrote:
> > "Sir, a woman preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder
> > legs.
> > It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at
> > all."
> >
> > Vance (such sexism -- assuming the dog is a he!)
Although Fiona deleted the attribution, it was Lars who wrote:
> > A dog is a he.
> > A bitch is a she.
>
> Susan Ramirez replied
> >Nonsense. A male dog is a dog and a female dog is a bitch, but "a dog"
> >might be either. There's nothing odd about any of these sentences:
> >
> >She's a good dog.
> >What kind of dog is she?
> >Please call your dog. She's humping my leg.
>
> No, there's nothing odd about any of those sentences, Susan,
> but go back and read the Twain again. Twain says about "a dog"
> that's walking on *his* "hinder legs."
>
> And furthermore, you didn't get Vance's joke.
I don't think so. I think Fiona is confusing herself by trying to read
my post as a response to Vance's, when it is actually a response to Lars's.
But thanks anyway.
Susan Ramirez
ram...@frii.com
Abfou .
On Sep 21, 1996 20:56:10 in article <Re: Help on Mark Twain quote>,
--
I've come late to this thread. Has anyone pointed out that the originator
of this quote is not Mark Twain, but Samuel Johnson?
Abfou, his mark
Son of Traven
>I've come late to this thread. Has anyone pointed out that the originator
>of this quote is not Mark Twain, but Samuel Johnson?
>
>Abfou, his mark
No, but I know that more quotes are erroneously attributed to Mark Twain
than to anyone else.
New Mexico, it ain't New and it ain't Mexico
Also known as: "The Land of Entrapment"
Capital City: Santa Fake
Steve Miklos
Son of Traven wrote:
>
> >I've come late to this thread. Has anyone pointed out that the originator
> >of this quote is not Mark Twain, but Samuel Johnson?
> >
> >Abfou, his mark
>
> No, but I know that more quotes are erroneously attributed to Mark Twain
> than to anyone else.
>
By the way, It was Churchill who said that, about Mark Twain and the
quotes.
Regards,
Steve (or was it Johnson?) Miklos
--
stephen...@citicorp.com, piala...@aol.com Steve Miklos @ home
Not speaking for the Big Bank
http://members.aol.com/pialamodem