May you live in interesting times: Difference between revisions
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== Popularization and usage == |
== Popularization and usage == |
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* The saying was used by [[Robert F. Kennedy]] in his [[Day of Affirmation speech|Day of Affirmation Address]] in [[Cape Town]], [[South Africa]], in 1966.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/RFK-Speeches/Day-of-Affirmation-Address-as-delivered.aspx |title=Robert F. Kennedy's Day of Affirmation Address, Cape Town, South Africa|accessdate=2008-08-03}}</ref> |
* The saying was used by [[Robert F. Kennedy]] in his [[Day of Affirmation speech|Day of Affirmation Address]] in [[Cape Town]], [[South Africa]], in 1966.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/RFK-Speeches/Day-of-Affirmation-Address-as-delivered.aspx |title=Robert F. Kennedy's Day of Affirmation Address, Cape Town, South Africa|accessdate=2008-08-03}}</ref> |
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* It is also a saying from the counterweight continent in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' series, and a novel in the series centered in the "Aurient" (Orient) is named ''[[Interesting Times]]''. |
* It is also a saying from the counterweight continent in Sir [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' series, and a novel in the series centered in the "Aurient" (Orient) is named ''[[Interesting Times]]''. |
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* "Interesting Times" is the title of the autobiography of the historian [[Eric Hobsbawm]]. |
* "Interesting Times" is the title of the autobiography of the historian [[Eric Hobsbawm]]. |
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* Writer [[George Packer]] calls his [[The New Yorker|''New Yorker'']] [[blog]]<ref>{{cite web |
* Writer [[George Packer]] calls his [[The New Yorker|''New Yorker'']] [[blog]]<ref>{{cite web |
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Revision as of 21:52, 13 February 2014
"May you live in interesting times", often referred to as the Chinese curse, is the purported translation of an ancient Chinese proverb and curse. However, no Chinese source has ever been found.[1]
Origins
Evidence that the phrase was in use as early as 1936 is provided by a memoir written by Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen who was the British Ambassador to China in 1936 and 1937. The memoir describes an instance of a friend of Knatchbull-Hugessen describing the phrase as a "Chinese curse" when discussing his departure to China.[2]
Frederic René Coudert, Jr. also recounts having heard the phrase at the time:
- Some years ago, in 1936, I had to write to a very dear and honored friend of mine, who has since died, Sir Austen Chamberlain, brother of the present Prime Minister, and I concluded my letter with a rather banal remark, "that we were living in an interesting age." Evidently he read the whole letter, because by return mail he wrote to me and concluded as follows: "Many years ago, I learned from one of our diplomats in China that one of the principal Chinese curses heaped upon an enemy is, 'May you live in an interesting age.'" "Surely", he said, "no age has been more fraught with insecurity than our own present time." That was three years ago.[3]
The phrase is again described as a "Chinese curse" in 1943's "Child Study Association of America, Federation for Child Study (U.S.)".[4]
Speculative associations
A traditional Chinese idiom which seems to be similar but is not exactly equal is translated from ("寧為太平犬，不做亂世人") as: "It's better to be a dog in a peaceful time than be a man in a chaotic period."[5]
Popularization and usage
- The saying was used by Robert F. Kennedy in his Day of Affirmation Address in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1966.[6]
- It is also a saying from the counterweight continent in Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, and a novel in the series centered in the "Aurient" (Orient) is named Interesting Times.
- "Interesting Times" is the title of the autobiography of the historian Eric Hobsbawm.
- Writer George Packer calls his New Yorker blog[7] "Interesting Times".
- Harry Kim uses the phrase in Episode 6 "The Cloud" of Star Trek: Voyager Season 1.
- Neal Caffrey and Mozzie discuss the curse in Episode 14 "Out of the Box" of White Collar Season 1.
- Corrado "Junior" Soprano references the curse when lamenting recent persecution of the Mafia to Richie Aprile in The Sopranos' Season 2 episode "Toodle Fucking-Oo".
- Bob Garvin[8] uses the phrase near the end of the movie in Disclosure.
- Stephen King also referenced the curse in his novel Firestarter. In this novel, the head of the 'Shop'(the secret government agency who are chasing the protagonist and his daughter, who each have supernatural powers) thinks about this curse, and thinks to himself that if any more interesting thing happen again, it will drive him mad.
- Interesting Times is the title of one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, with the title being based on the curse and the curse being repeated frequently within the novel.
References
- ^ Bryan W. Van Norden. Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy. (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2011; ISBN 9781603844697), p. 53, sourcing Fred R. Shapiro, ed., The Yale Book of Quotations (New Haven: Yale University Press 2006), p. 669.
- ^ Knatchbull-Hugessen, Hughe (1949). Diplomat in Peace and War. J. Murray.
- ^ Frederic R. Coudert Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, 1939
- ^ Retrieved from Child Study: A Journal of Parent Education, Volume 21, p52.
- ^ O'Conner, Patricia T.; Kellerman, Stewart (2012-07-05). May you live in interesting times. The Grammarphobia Blog, 5 July 2012. Retrieved 2013-07-15 .
- ^ "Robert F. Kennedy's Day of Affirmation Address, Cape Town, South Africa". Retrieved 2008-08-03.
- ^ George Packer. "Interesting Times". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
- ^ "IMDB - Disclosure (1994) - Quotes".
External links
- Stephen E. DeLong (May 5, 1998). "Get a(n interesting) life!". Archived from the original on 2004-04-04. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
- "Origin of Phrase: May You Live In Interesting Times". Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. Retrieved 2008-08-03.