help me attribute a quote

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“I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.”

Dot Parker?

― RoxyMuzak© (roxymuzak), Thursday, 25 May 2006 19:36 (nineteen years ago)

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 25 May 2006 19:58 (nineteen years ago)

Tom claims he got it off of a bathroom wall. There is a doctor from Atlanta who claims he invented it. It is sometimes attributed to Dotty and occasionally to W.C. Fields.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 25 May 2006 20:02 (nineteen years ago)

That's a nice image: Dorothy Parker scribbling messages on men's bathroom walls for Tom Waits to discover thirty years later.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 25 May 2006 20:16 (nineteen years ago)

so there is NO credence to the dot theory?

― RoxyMuzak© (roxymuzak), Thursday, 25 May 2006 20:29 (nineteen years ago)

I think it's pretty clear that she has a better shot at it than Tom does.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 25 May 2006 20:34 (nineteen years ago)

I've never seen an official citation of the quote to Dorothy Parker, Ogden Nash, or W.C. Fields. Unless I see some published reference, it may as well have been George Carlin, Kurt Vonnegutt, or Dave Barry then.

However, I know that Tom Waits said it on the old "Fernwood2Night" show. So I'm going to have to say Waits via that bathroom wall is the source. (Until proven otherwise.)

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 25 May 2006 21:19 (nineteen years ago)

This page attributed it to W.C. Fields (and notes that that TV show was scripted, so it wasn't Waits himself?), but offers no official source either.

― StanM (StanM), Thursday, 25 May 2006 21:42 (nineteen years ago)

WC Fields seems like a highly suspect source to me, considering the term lobotomy wasn't even in wide use until the 40s.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 25 May 2006 21:46 (nineteen years ago)

Dr. Randy Hanzlick, who writes songs as a hobby, claims he found it on a bathroom wall in the early 70's:

http://www.chiasmus.com/typesofchiasmus/phonetic.shtml

― StanM (StanM), Thursday, 25 May 2006 21:47 (nineteen years ago)

“I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.”

is part of those lyrics by Randy Hanzlick, but it was changed from this writing he found on a bathroom wall:

"I'd rather have a free bottle in front of me than a pre-frontal lobotomy." which was a line from comedian Fred Allen (died in 1956), who probably wrote it first, judging from the other quotes attributed to him

http://www.comedyorama.com/fredallen/fred-quote.htm

― StanM (StanM), Thursday, 25 May 2006 22:02 (nineteen years ago)

Trying to attribute this quote is like dancing about architecture.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 25 May 2006 22:03 (nineteen years ago)

its the new da vinci code

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 25 May 2006 22:06 (nineteen years ago)

Duh. If only I'd clicked on this first.

― StanM (StanM), Thursday, 25 May 2006 22:07 (nineteen years ago)

Jaymc = HAR!

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Thursday, 25 May 2006 22:15 (nineteen years ago)

I've always thought that was Dorothy Parker as well.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Thursday, 25 May 2006 23:08 (nineteen years ago)

three years pass...

I'm trying to recall a specific quote and who said it - the general concept is that "a society is only as strong as its willingness/ability to help the least fortunate members of it." It's a big one, but my sloppy Googling is taking me all over the place and I can't pinpoint it... any help?

― Shannon Whirry and the Bad Brains, Wednesday, 31 March 2010 11:07 (sixteen years ago)

hans gruber, die hard

― rip sarah silverman 3/19/10 never forget (history mayne), Wednesday, 31 March 2010 11:17 (sixteen years ago)

rly tho this gets you a lot of results:

"society is only as strong as its weakest"

― rip sarah silverman 3/19/10 never forget (history mayne), Wednesday, 31 March 2010 11:18 (sixteen years ago)

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link etc.

― Collectible Spoons of the 3rd Reich (Tom D.), Wednesday, 31 March 2010 11:31 (sixteen years ago)

found a few people suggesting it was mlk but no concrete refs.

― the big pink suede panda bear hurts (ledge), Wednesday, 31 March 2010 11:34 (sixteen years ago)

I imagine it's a lot older than that

― Collectible Spoons of the 3rd Reich (Tom D.), Wednesday, 31 March 2010 11:35 (sixteen years ago)

JFK - "If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich"

― Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Farting in Space (NickB), Wednesday, 31 March 2010 11:35 (sixteen years ago)

I believe you're looking at gandhi there

"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." ~ Mahatma Ghandi

but it really could be anyone across all spectra.

― Jesse James Woods (darraghmac), Wednesday, 31 March 2010 12:09 (sixteen years ago)

pretty sure it's from A. Wise Mann

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 31 March 2010 12:09 (sixteen years ago)

anon & anon, the two dudes shakespeare was always waiting on

― Jesse James Woods (darraghmac), Wednesday, 31 March 2010 12:10 (sixteen years ago)

I reckon it's either Unattrib. or Trad. Arr.

― Collectible Spoons of the 3rd Reich (Tom D.), Wednesday, 31 March 2010 12:11 (sixteen years ago)

Thanks very much - it was indeed the Ghandi quote I was thinking of. Much appreciated!

― Shannon Whirry and the Bad Brains, Wednesday, 31 March 2010 12:12 (sixteen years ago)

nine years pass...

Searching for a quote which I believe to be related to a professor, teaching students how to think?

Something to the effect of "when encountering a new topic, do not ask 'what is my opinion on this thing' - but rather ask 'what is my *relation* to this thing?'".

It's one of the wisest things I've ever encountered, and I cannot for the life of me remember who said it?

― Branwell with an N, Monday, 9 September 2019 18:10 (six years ago)

The Immediate Experience: Movies, Comics, Theatre & Other Aspects of Popular Culture by Robert Washaw

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4T7IwJNuCqsC&lpg=PA8&ots=b8LjzpTRtZ&dq=%22what%20is%20my%20opinion%22%20%22what%20is%20my%20relation%22&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q=%22what%20is%20my%20opinion%22%20%22what%20is%20my%20relation%22&f=false

― The Pingularity (ledge), Tuesday, 10 September 2019 10:07 (six years ago)

THANK YOU!!! That had been driving me nuts.

Of course it is from Fan Studies. It is a very, very Fan Studies attitude to take.

― Branwell with an N, Tuesday, 10 September 2019 10:12 (six years ago)

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