{"id":603,"date":"2015-11-15T03:10:57","date_gmt":"2015-11-15T03:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/repeatright.com\/engine\/?p=603"},"modified":"2018-10-08T19:38:43","modified_gmt":"2018-10-08T19:38:43","slug":"alger-william-r","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.repeatright.com\/engine\/alger-william-r\/","title":{"rendered":"ALGER, William R."},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453315804311{margin-top: -40px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531588223-e020d87d-f7dd094f-cf63bd17-d65d” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

\u201cGood striving<\/span><\/p>\n

Brings thriving.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~William R. Alger<\/strong>, American author & minister<\/p>\n

\u201cActivity\u201d (1856) The Poetry of the East<\/em>, London: Sampson Low, Son & Co., p. 221; online via Google Books, books.google.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531588755-96303790-852e094f-cf63bd17-d65d” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]<\/span><\/p>\n

Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong>: [Short poem. Full verse below.]\n

\u201cGood striving<\/span><\/p>\n

Brings thriving.<\/span><\/p>\n

Better a dog who works,<\/p>\n

Than a lion who shirks.\u201d (p. 221)<\/p>\n

Source Note<\/em><\/strong>: Alger included the poem above in his examples of \u201cOriental Poetry,\u201d or, to use another of his headings, as a selection from the \u201cMetrical Specimans of the Thought, Sentiment, and Fancy of the East.\u201d (Poetry of the East<\/em>, p. 93)<\/p>\n

In his introduction, however, Alger writes that the content of The Poetry of the East<\/em> came from \u201cfaithful representations of Hindu, Persian, and Arab thoughts, sentiments, and fancies, which I have met with in the voluminous records of the different Asiatic Societies, in prose versions of the Vedas and Puranas, and in a thousand scattered sources. Of the rest, the originating hint and impulse alone, or merely the character and style, are Oriental\u2026<\/strong><\/span>\u201d (p. iv) After Alger credited a few specific sources, he added \u2013 \u201cAll the pieces remaining, in addition to those now designated, are to be ascribed, under the conditions before stated, to the present writer<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d (p. v \u2013 bold text Repeat Right) Although it\u2019s certainly possible that the prose appeared elsewhere prior to 1856 \u2013 to our knowledge, it is Alger\u2019s original poem \u201cmerely in the character and style\u201d of the works in his collection.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1453315829682-63e8fade-cf4cbd17-d65d” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

 <\/p>\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0The Poetry of the East<\/em> (1856) online via Google Books: https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=_9AOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA221&dq=Good+striving+Brings+thriving+Better+a+dog+who+works<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315829087-ce67c619-0fbcbd17-d65d” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

\u201cTen poor men sleep in peace on one straw heap, as Saadi sings,<\/p>\n

But the immensest empire is too narrow for two kings.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~William R. Alger<\/strong>, American author & minister<\/p>\n

\u201cElbow-Room\u201d (1856) The Poetry of the <\/em>East<\/em>, London: Sampson Low, Son & Co., p. 172; online via Google Books, books.google.com<\/a><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315829475-7c82a017-1e62bd17-d65d” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]<\/span><\/p>\n

Extended excerpt<\/strong><\/em>: None. “Elbow-Room” is only the two lines of quoted verse.<\/p>\n

\u201cTen poor men sleep in peace on one straw heap, as Saadi sings,<\/span><\/p>\n

But the immensest empire is too narrow for two kings.<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n

Source Note<\/em><\/strong>: Alger included the poem above in his examples of \u201cOriental Poetry,\u201d or, to use another of his headings, as a selection from the \u201cMetrical Specimans of the Thought, Sentiment, and Fancy of the East.\u201d (Poetry of the East<\/em>, p. 93)\u00a0 Quote books published after 1856 often cite Alger’s “Elbow-Room” lines to an unknown “Oriental” source.<\/p>\n

In his introduction, however, Alger writes that the content of The Poetry of the East<\/em> came from \u201cfaithful representations of Hindu, Persian, and Arab thoughts, sentiments, and fancies, which I have met with in the voluminous records of the different Asiatic Societies, in prose versions of the Vedas and Puranas, and in a thousand scattered sources. Of the rest, the originating hint and impulse alone, or merely the character and style, are Oriental<\/strong><\/span>\u2026\u201d (p. iv) After Alger credited a few specific sources, he added \u2013 \u201cAll the pieces remaining, in addition to those now designated, are to be ascribed, under the conditions before stated, to the present writer<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d (p. v \u2013 bold text Repeat Right) Although it\u2019s certainly possible that the prose appeared elsewhere prior to 1856 \u2013 to our knowledge, it is Alger\u2019s original poem \u201cmerely in the character and style\u201d of the works in his collection.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1453315829682-63e8fade-cf4cbd17-d65d” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

 <\/p>\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0The Poetry of the East<\/em> (1856) online via Google Books: https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=_9AOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA172&dq=Ten+poor+men+sleep+in+peace+on+one+straw+heap<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1ebd17-d65d” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

\u201cWe give advice by the bucket, but take it by the grain.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~William R. Alger<\/strong>, American author & minister<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Utility and the Futility of Aphorisms\u201d (February 1863) The Atlantic Monthly<\/em>, Vol. XI, No. LXIV; in volume The Atlantic Monthly<\/em>, Vol. XI (January 1863 \u2013 June 1863), Boston, MA: Ticknor & Fields, p. 183, column 2; online via Bavarian State Library & Google Books, books.google.com<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-ban” title=”Misquotes” tab_id=”1453315828190-b4d7b461-d58dbd17-d65d” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

Original Alger quote<\/em><\/span>: “We give advice by the bucket, but take it by the grain.”<\/p>\n

Common misquote<\/em><\/span>: \u201cMost men give advice by the bucket, but take it by the grain<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d This paraphrasing may have originated when Alger was quoted in \u201cGems of Thought\u201d (1872) The New Era<\/em>, ed. Raphael Lewin, Vol II, New York: New Era Publishing, p. 315.\u00a0 The Lewin book is also sometimes credited as the original source of Alger’s words, but it was published roughly nine years after Alger’s “Utility and Futility” essay was printed in The Atlantic.<\/p>\n

Misattribution<\/em><\/span>: Internet quotation websites sometimes give credit for Alger’s quote to playwright Tom Stoppard<\/strong><\/span>. Stoppard may have said or written the words at some point, but Alger beat him to it by a century.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315828385-86abfac4-79bfbd17-d65d” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text css_animation=”left-to-right”]\n

Extended excerpt<\/strong><\/em>: [Magazine essay]\n

\u201cThe great difficulty in regard to the fruitfulness of advice is the universal readiness to impart, the usual unwillingness to accept it. We give advice by the bucket, take it by the grain.<\/span>\u201d (p. 183)<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1453315828572-dac97b48-68e0bd17-d65d” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

 <\/p>\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0\u201cThe Utility and the Futility of Aphorisms\u201d (February 1863) The Atlantic Monthly<\/em>, online via Google Books: https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=n6xIAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA183&dq=We+give+advice+by+the+bucket,+but+take+it+by+the+grain\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n

Resources<\/h4>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”bottom-to-top” el_class=”Wrapper-Author-Resources”]\u00a0Learn more about William R. Alger<\/span><\/b>\u00a0| Here are a few good places to start –<\/p>\n