Anyway...

What if you had written the words quoted here and then people began giving credit to someone else? What if you had written something that you were very proud of and someone else got the credit? It wouldn't feel very good, would it?

Mother Teresa, known and beloved the world over, has done many wonderful works. And said many wonderful things. But she did not write the words quoted here.

That honor goes to Kent M. Keith, who, as a 19-year-old Harvard student, who put together a leadership booklet for high school leaders. Who knows why it is attributed to Mother Teresa--maybe people would not pay it much attention if they knew it came from someone as-yet-unknown, Kent Keith? I mean, who can trust a person with two first names, right? And a 19-year-old kid, at that!

It is good advice to live by, no doubt about it. But let's give the credit where it is due.

There are reports that Mother Teresa these commandments on her bedroom wall and they were discovered after she died. According to the Kent M. Keith, the author of these commandments, she actually posted them on the wall in in her Calcutta children's home. So while Mother Teresa approved of and thought the commandments important, she did not author them.

While Kent M. Keith is probably a bit miffed at the credit going to Mother Teresa, he probably gives them...anyway.

You can read (and learn) more about how these quotes came to be written, and learn more about Kent Keith here: The origin of The Paradoxical Commandments

And the website devoted to all things Mother Teresa also debunks this meme (and other sayings falsely attributed to Mother Teresa: Quotes falsely attributed to Mother Teresa

And more from the Quote Investigator: Do Good Anyway


Blog posts © copyrighted 2015 Julie Patrick Clark

Five lessons in life from...someone

My first post on Dr Seuss Did Seuss Say It?  debunked the mind over matter meme. Now we have this one, also making the rounds on Facebook.

Lovely thoughts. Good lessons/reminders. But...did Seuss say it?

Having read Dr Seuss books to my son until I was Blue Fish in the face, I did not remember most of these quotes being in Dr Seuss's books. So...with a little curiosity and a little sleuthing I am here to report my findings.

Number 1 in this meme is accurate. It can be found in Happy Birthday to You!

Number 2 is not by the good Dr Seuss. The sentiment is in line with his works but it does not appear in any of his works, according to the good folks at http://www.seussville.com/

Number 3 is correct, it appears in Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Number 4--debunked in my first blog piece Did Seuss say it?

Number 5 Nope. Seuss never said it. Doesn't even sound like something he'd say, actually.

So if one is all for lists of life lessons, here's mine:

1: Ask questions
2: Verify
3: Be curious
4: Search for truth
5: Don't be a dumbass
6: Teach your children well

Dr Seuss is highly quotable but, instead of sharing something in a cute little box, why not  pick up one of his books and share a quote directly from his work?

I will be sharing this post again around March 2 because of the celebrations taking place in schools in honor of Seuss's birthday. It is good to honor someone, at any time of year, but spreading misinformation is actually a dishonor. Many is the time I've seen posters in schools with quotes by someone but they were not by Dr Seuss. Would you like it if someone threw a party in your honor and then quoted other people; ignoring what you did say?

Why not have children go through his books and find and share a quote that is meaningful to them, instead of teaching them something Seuss never wrote?

Another page devoted to debunking Seuss quotes: Oh, the quotes you'll forge!


Blog posts © copyrighted 2015 Julie Patrick Clark

Beware the butt biting spider!!!

OMG!!!! The butt biting spider (arachnius gluteus) (clue) is back!! Never pee in the dark again! Lift the loo lid for a look!

According to Facebook this butt biting spider is back, and attacking backsides. And people are dying, for crap's sake! The highly toxic poison kills you...but it takes three or four days before it kills yo' ass (clue).

Well...no. The fake news reports are so laughable it ain't funny. The hoax has been going around since 1999 according to snopes and there are changes with each iteration. Reading the "news" piece you see that the airport in Chicago is "Blare" (clue) airport and...there is no such airport. There is no "Journal of the United Medical Association" (clue).

Sigh. Some easy ways to tell if something is fact or fiction is pretty easy--Google something in the piece you want to share...in this case how about Googling butt spider...see, I made it even easier with a link. If you see this piece of crap on Facebook, click the article or photo and read some of the comments and you will generally see that people who think have pointed out that the piece is a hoax.

It doesn't add to one's credibility rating to post these warnings as truth...it can take less than a minute in most cases to check. Like the boy who cried wolf too many times, people will stop listening to you.

But! Beware the butt biting boa...


Blog posts © copyrighted 2015 Julie Patrick Clark

Another meme mangled

This is another meme being passed mindlessly on without (hardly) anyone stopping to consider if it is true or not. Since I've chosen to feature this meme today you probably know where this is going...

When I first saw this on Facebook I didn't think "How cool is that?!" I thought "what moron came up with that?"

If this is a quote that means something to you then you may have an acquaintance with a book of antiquity called The Holy Bible. You know, that dusty book at great-grandma's house used to record family births and deaths?

Now, it set off my crap detector right away but to be sure I did some research. I got out a copy of the bible and turned to the index--you know, that list of names and words and stuff contained in a book? And there are variations of "do not be afraid" a handful of times--less than ten. Unless math has really changed since I was in school, ten or so is nowhere near 365.

Other skeptics on the Internet (some people out there do think!) have tried different variations and still only came up with around 100 or so, and that was stretching what this meme says. This skeptic breaks it down nicely David Lang And another skeptic MillyJonesBlog had a good idea--go through the bible and make a list of those 365 quotes. What a cool idea! You could then post a different verse each day. But that would require a bible, thought, time, and research...easier to pass around a quote of dubious value, eh?

And it causes me to wonder why once isn't enough? Do not be afraid-- why do we need a daily reminder? Are our memories that short? Our faith too shallow? Out of our ADD meds?

Okay. Another meme mangled. Plenty of people fell for it and passed it around. But it is the not thinking before passing it around, the acceptance that it is true without doing some research that I find troubling. There are full text bibles online to search. There's an index in your personal bible (or in great-grandma's) to peruse. You would know if it was fact or fiction before being fooled, and fooling others who may think you know what you're passing along.

(There are websites that claim that "fear not" is in the King James Bible 365 times. Searching the King James Bible online I came up with 62.)

(The word "fear" may be in the bible 300 or so times. The meme above specifies "Do not be afraid." If we count the word fear, in any context, then I bet "do" and "not" and "be" are in the bible more than the word fear.)

And yes, it is a good thought, to remind ourselves to not be afraid...unless you're broken down at night in the bad part of town. Or staring straight down the barrel of a .44. The bible was talking about not being afraid spiritually, in the sense of not losing your faith.

And note that the meme states: "The phrase 'do not be afraid' is written in the bible 365 times." One could stretch and twist and use variations and maybe come up with 300 or so uses of fear. But the phrase "do not be afraid" does not occur 365 times in any bible translation.

I think it is past time for intellectual curiosity to come back into vogue.

Blog posts © copyrighted 2015 Julie Patrick Clark

Two moons tonight?

So here we go again...the two moons hoax. Today, as I type this, is August 27, 2015. It gives me gales of giggles to think how many gullible gazers will be out there tonight looking for the second moon.

But there will not be two moons tonight. Or ever. According to EarthSky this hoax has been hanging around for 12 years. Sorta like the Rapture-that-never-came, eh?

One of the "moons" is supposed to be Mars. When did Mars morph into a moon? There's your first clue right there. Mars as large as the moon! I don't believe that is even scientifically possible. There's a second clue that this ain't right. The fact that Mars isn't even visible in August at the same time as the full moon should be a clue...if people would think for a few minutes. Or check a reliable source such as The Sky Live. Passing around such things does not do wonders for one's intelligence...

If anyone sees two moons tonight, you might wanta see a doctor about that...

Blog posts © copyrighted 2015 Julie Patrick Clark

Quashed again: We make a living by what we get...

Channeling Sir Winston Churchill today...

I don't know about anyone else but I'm having fun quashing these memes! 

This is a meme I see all the time. And there is nothing wrong with the sentiment. But there is everything wrong with the attribution. Churchill is probably turning over in his grave at all the words being put into his mouth. 

There is no evidence that Churchill ever said it. But this quote pops up regularly in places like BrainyQuote and GoodReads (it also pops up in sloppily researched and poorly fact checked books).

If the quote is on those websites it must be true!! No. When I first saw this quote I was sure it was not Churchillian. So I started going through books by/about Churchill. Could not find it anywhere. I asked librarians and they could not find this quote in any of Churchill's works. 

That's because it most likely is not in any of his works. As Richard Langworth on his website "Next to the var­i­ous “suc­cess” quotes, one of the most pop­u­lar Churchill mis­quo­ta­tions that bedi­zen the Inter­net is: “You make a liv­ing by what you get; you make a life by what you give.”

This cropped up in sev­eral poorly researched Churchill quote books and was taken up in a 2005 TV ad by Lock­heed Mar­tin. No one ever lists a ref­er­ence, because there is none: It can­not be tracked to Churchill and is an old saw put in his mouth to make it more inter­est­ing. Listed with other “red her­rings” in Churchill By Him­self."

The Churchill Centre says "While often attributed to Churchill, a search of over 2.5 million words by and about Churchill in The Churchill Centre's research database fails to show that Churchill ever spoke or wrote those words.  Equally encouraging, perhaps, are words he DID utter in Dundee, Scotland, on 10 October 1908: 

"What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?  How else can we put ourselves in harmonious relation with the great verities and consolations of the infinite and the eternal?  And I avow my faith that we are marching towards better days.  Humanity will not be cast down.  We are going on swinging bravely forward along the grand high road and already behind the distant mountains is the promise of the sun."

If someone wants to quote Winston Churchill, why not open one of his books and quote directly from his works? Quoting a misattributed quote is easy to do. Doing a little research to check the veracity of the quote (is it quoted correctly? is it attributed correctly?) is a little more time consuming but it will make you seem a whole lot smarter and, well, a little bit nerdy. Just say No! to incorrect memes and do your part to smarten up this world a little bit more.

Blog posts © copyrighted 2015 Julie Patrick Clark

Gullible's travails

gul·li·ble

/ˈɡələb(ə)l/

adjective

easily persuaded to believe something

Every few months or so, Facebook newsfeeds are clogged with users posting the copyright warning that Facebook cannot use their photos, content, and so on.

Sheeple, please. Think--when you signed up for Facebook you agreed to their TOS (terms of service). If you don't remember what it said, go back and read it. Here. I'll save you time and post the link: Statement of Rights and Responsibilities

If you do not agree to their TOS, then delete your account. If you use the service you agree to their TOS. Simple. But note that the Facebook statement spells out Facebook does not own your content already.

Facebook User sees a cute little box in his newsfeed. Thinks "Those bastards! I'll show them! I'll post this privacy notice myself!"

Facebook User shares the notice on his page, others see it in the newsfeed and, like sheeple, follow suit.

Facebook user did not stop to think (the hallmark of a sheeple) "Hm. Could this be true? Is this true? Maybe I should check." No maybe about it, Facebook users should check. And since you are already on Facebook why not go check out their TOS and refresh yourself on what it actually says? A little primary research is so easy...

Links to mainstream article regarding the Facebook copyright notice:

Facebook Copyright Hoax Goes Viral Again  (ABC News)

Hoax! Don't copy and paste that "Copyright" Facebook message (USA Today)


Blog posts © copyrighted 2015 Julie Patrick Clark

Never the Twain shall meet...

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in

which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured

This quote pops up frequently on Facebook and on websites devoted to inspirational quotes. The lesson is that we are more harmed by holding on to anger than the person at whom you are angry. Holding on to irrational anger is unhealthy, but there are times when we must be angry; at injustice, for instance.

This quote is often attributed to Mark Twain but there is no evidence that he ever said it. If he had there would be...some evidence. There seems to be more evidence that Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Younger) said something along those lines.

Google is not always reliable in finding the source of a quote--even though the above quote is attributed to Twain all over the Internet. But to me it just did not seem like something Twain would say. I've read a number of his works and have never seen the quote. I searched books.google.com for the quote. Nada.

So, not finding the quote using various Twain sources, I turned to a Twain expert. I went to website that is devoted to the works of Mark Twain and wrote to Barbara Schmidt at twainquotes and this is her reply to me:

Julie,

The quote "Anger is an acid..." is not an authentic Mark Twain quote.
One of the earliest appearances I found for it doing a quick search on
google books was a 1961 publication called A. A. GRAPEVINE (from
Anonymous Alcoholics).

Barbara Schmidt


So there ya have it--another quote quashed.


Blog posts © copyrighted 2015 Julie Patrick Clark.

Did Seuss say it?

Who doesn't love the good Dr Seuss?! Who hasn't memorized many of his books?

It boggles my mind that so many people claim to love his books and to have reread them many times and they still believe that this saying is in a Dr Seuss book. Wanta have some fun? Ask them which book this quote is in. Blank stare.

Because, it ain't in any of his books. Again, a little digging would show that he did not say this.

Now, taking this as presented--what if I felt that people who pass this crap quote along while claiming to love Dr Seuss were complete idiots? What if I said what I felt--that you're a complete idiot for passing this along? Would that be okay with you? It'd be okay to Seuss!

What about those who do say what they feel on religion, politics, etc.? According to this meme they can say whatever they want to say and it doesn't matter. But make a religious or political statement on Facebook and you'll see how many do mind...

Be who you are...what if you're a serial killer? Pedophile? A tax cheat?

It helps to stop and think before posting some of this shit stuff.

Dr Seuss books are wonderful and, if you want to quote him, why not pick up one of his books and post the quote directly from the book and why it is meaningful to you? How about some meaningful conversation?

Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind

Blog posts © copyrighted 2015 Julie Patrick Clark.

"Facts" on Facebook

If, with the literate, I am

Impelled to try an epigram,

I never seek to take the credit;

We all assume that Oscar said it.

~Dorothy Parker

A while back I was chatting with someone about the memes being passed around Facebook as fact when, in fact, many of them are wrong. Either the quote itself is wrong, or the quote is attributed to the wrong person. Sometimes both.

She said to me that it doesn't matter who said it or if the quote was not passed along in original form but it was the thought that the meme contained that was important. I disagree. A lot. How does it help anyone to memorize an incorrect quote, scientific fact, or just plain bad information? If we pass these memes around to help, shouldn't we make sure they are accurate and not harmful?

Facts are important. Would you like it if facts were left off of your paycheck? Would you like your paycheck to have someone else's name on it?

It isn't just inaccuracies in memes; it is also not real communication. Whatever happened to posting original thoughts? Whatever happened to posting about your favorite book and why it is your favorite, what impressed you, what you didn't like and why. Whatever happened to opening a book or newspaper and quoting someone directly? Whatever happened to passing along the wisdom from grandparents?

Some of the memes contain historical inaccuracies. It surprises me how many of those get passed around by Really Smart People who claim to know their history. I asked someone who passed along one of the historically inaccurate memes if he knew it was inaccurate. He said he was "testing to see if anyone else would catch it." Uh huh...

Memes with medical inaccuracies can cost someone their life. Most of the memes that I've seen with scientific "facts" are not factual. If facts don't matter why send kids to school? Why go to college? If it is just the message that's important then why go into all that student debt when Facebook is free?

A warm, cozy feeling is good. We like warm and cozy. Facts are not always warm and cozy. But blindly, unquestioningly passing memes around Facebook does no one any good. It further dumbs down the human race. It shows that we have, to a large extent, given up thinking for ourselves. We're too quick to trust, and too slow to do a little fact checking. Often these memes are put out there on purpose to fool the gullible--and they succeed.

It often does not take long to do a little checking. Other times you will have to do a bit of digging. Try to use primary sources whenever possible. For instance, there is a meme going around on Facebook that says our cell phone numbers will be made public "this month" and that we will be charged when telemarketers call us. Think about it--this meme has been circulating since at least 2004...which month is the actual month our numbers will be made public? Which year? Instead of blindly passing this along as fact, a good primary source to check would be...your telephone carrier. Or the FTC. C'mon, people! Think!

Take all memes with a grain of salt. Use a little common sense. Do a little research. I will be fact checking many memes and posting them on this blog, hopefully one or two per week. But don't blindly trust what you read here--check the sources, do a little digging on your own.

Are cell phone numbers "going public" this month?

Blog posts © copyrighted 2015 Julie Patrick Clark.