Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Lorna Hallal seeks the title and author of a work that describes children queuing for the gas chamber while a palm reader tells their fortunes. The refrain is “the wrong parents, the wrong parents.”

John Gordon writes, “I remember reading somewhere that after the 1746 Battle of Culloden, a British officer was informed that a mother and her children were outside his quarters looking for a place to spend the night, to which he responded, irritably, ‘Oh, hang ’em!’ The next morning he was startled to find that they had all been, literally, hanged. I would appreciate a source on this.”

Pete Hawkins wonders whether anyone can provide a definitive citation for a quotation widely attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche: “To forget one’s purpose is the commonest form of stupidity.”

“no moral right to decide” (November-December 2013). Charles Hagen found “We have no right morally to decide as a matter of opinion that which can be determined as a matter of fact” in Industrial Leadership (chapter 4, “Results of Task Work,” pages 88-89), the published version of management consultant H.L. Gantt’s Page Lecture series delivered at Yale in 1915.

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

You might also like

Rachel Ruysch’s Lush (Still) Life

Now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, a Dutch painter’s art proved a treasure trove for scientists.

Concerts and Carols at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Tuning into one of Boston's best chamber music halls 

Parks and Rec Comedy Writer Aisha Muharrar Gets Serious about Grief

With Loved One, the Harvard grad and Lampoon veteran makes her debut as a novelist.

Most popular

Harvard Announces Four University Professors

Catherine Dulac, Noah Feldman, Claudia Goldin, and Cumrun Vafa receive the University’s highest faculty distinction.

What Trump Means for John Roberts’s Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

Harvard’s Class of 2029 Reflects Shifts in Racial Makeup After Affirmative Action Ends

International students continue to enroll amid political uncertainty; mandatory SATs lead to a drop in applications.

Explore More From Current Issue

People gather near the John Harvard Statue in front of University Hall surrounded by autumn trees.

A Changed Harvard Faces the Future

After a tense summer—and with no Trump settlement in sight—the University continues to adapt. 

Map showing Uralic populations in Eurasia, highlighting regional distribution and historical sites.

The Origins of Europe’s Most Mysterious Languages

A small group of Siberian hunter-gatherers changed the way millions of Europeans speak today.