Saturday, April 2, 2005, 6:51:16 PM, Lisa wrote:
LL> The other day the Independent had a memorial
LL> article about the late Lord Callaghan. They
LL> quoted some of his sayings: one of these was
LL> (I quote from memory): "A lie can be halfway
LL> round the world before the truth has got its
LL> boots on." Now I'm certain this is a Kipling
LL> quotation
But I'm not:-)
The earliest version I've seen is from the non-conformist
preacher C H Spurgeon (1834-92). In 'Gems from Spurgeon',
published in 1859, he's quoted as saying:
"If you want truth to go round the world you must hire an
express train to pull it; but if you want a lie to go
round the world, it will fly: it is as light as a feather,
and a breath will carry it. It is well said in the old
proverb, 'a lie will go round the world while truth is
pulling its boots on'."
And you'll note that he says it was then an old proverb.
--
Best regards,
E J Thompson mailto:[log in to unmask]
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