Wonder what they'll all say about Tim's speech and the thunderous standing ovation he received?
Also of note: I love how Juan Carlos Navarro quoted Jesus Christ (Luke 12:48 'For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required' or however Mr. Navarro phrased it), and attributed it to JFK.
Jesus H. Christ, John F. Kennedy—pretty much the same person.
Update: Hey, if you weren't there to see/hear it, here is Tim's speech.
Kennedy paraphrased the passage from Luke in a 1961 speech to the Massachusetts Legislature. So not original attribution, but historically correct.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I knew that, but I feel it's kind of like saying, "Kerouac said this" when it was really the Buddha originally—the original context is kind of important.
ReplyDeleteTrue. However, I think in many cases the original context can take a backseat to its use in a particular situation.
ReplyDeleteTake, for instance, the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln certainly didn't create the phrase "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth"; Daniel Webster, among others, had used it before. Nevertheless, as part of Lincoln's address, it attained a different resonance, due to its social context.
Similarly, Kennedy's address may have a far different personal resonance for Navarro than the Luke passage would, by virtue of its context.
However, this is probably far off. More likely, he wanted to avoid pulling a Riner. Or just was sloppy in his sourcing.
Also, for anyone keeping score at home, the first person to use the "of the people, by the people" line is believed to be abolitionist Theodore Parker.
ReplyDelete