Chapter and Verse

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Jack Holt seeks the source of “The most difficult part of attaining perfection is finding something to do for an encore” (regularly credited online to “Author unknown”).

Arnold Rosenberg hopes for leads to the origin of the aphorism “You like because of; you love in spite of.” Pointers are welcome.

Programming day (September-October). A tip from E.J. Barnes led (courtesy of Google and Wikipedia) to the identification of “Profession,” by Isaac Asimov. Published in the July 1957 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, it was subsequently reprinted in the author’s 1959 collection Nine Tomorrows: Tales of the Near Future. Barrie Greene was first to provide a link to one of the many online copies of the text.

“red Coke can in the snow” (July-August). Dorrie Bell noted, from Ngaio Marsh’s Clutch of Constables (1969): “I remember that on a walk…I looked into a dell and saw, deep down, an astonishing spot of scarlet. I thought: ‘Ah! A superb fungus secretly devouring the earth and the air.’…I went down to look more closely at it and found that it was a discarded fish-tin with a red label. Was it the less beautiful for my discovery?” Bell added, “I therefore infer that the trope of the red beautiful-trash item was common in the period and not just to be found in the Beat poets of San Francisco.”

Send inquiries and answers to “Chapter and Verse,” Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138, or via e-mail to chapterandverse@harvardmag.com.

Click here for the November-December 2012 issue table of contents

You might also like

Off the Shelf

The wealth gap, shamanism, the life of David Nathan, and more

Making Money Funny

Matt Levine’s spunky Bloomberg column

An Original Magna Carta, Hidden in Plain Sight

A rare original surfaces at Harvard at an “almost providential” moment. 

Most popular

House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

The University must turn over all requested materials related to tuition and financial aid by mid-July. 

Harvard Plans Contingencies for International Students

The Kennedy School and School of Public Health are developing online options.

The Standoff: Harvard’s Future in the Balance

Introducing a guide to the issues, players, and stakes.

Explore More From Current Issue

The Harvard Professor Who Quantified Democracy

Erica Chenoweth’s data shows how—and when—authoritarians fall.

Harvard Medalists

Four people honored for exceptional service to the University

Harvard’s Comedy and Improv Scene

In comedy groups, students find ways to be absurd, present, and a little less self-conscious.