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A correspondence corner for not-so-famous lost words
Franklin Parker wonders if there is any known appearance of the motto "Education--a debt due from present to future generations" prior to its use by philanthropist George Peabody in a letter of May 26, 1852, that was read aloud during centennial celebrations for Danvers, Massachusetts.
Robert Drennan is seeking the precise wording of, and the original use of, W.B. Yeats's characterization, "The Celts, they dream of places never seen and brave deeds yet undone."
E.M. Beekman hopes someone can supply the exact phrasing of, and a citation for, Herman Melville's comment, "Time, Strength, Cash, Patience."
Robert Lichter asks for the source of the advice, "Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being." He writes that Goethe has been suggested as the author.
"sweetness and wit" (November-December). John Gordon was the first of many to identify this partial misquotation of the last two lines of John Donne's poem "Love's Alchemy."
"The living stream" (November-December). Anthony Shipps identified this couplet as lines 555 and 556 of Lord Byron's poetic narrative "Parisina."