I Don't Know What I Think Until I Read What I Write
Graham Wallas? E. 1000. Forster? André Gide? Anonymous Little Daughter? Anonymous Old Lady? Herbert Samuel? W. H. Auden? C. S. Lewis? Arthur Koestler? Christopher Hollis?
Dear Quote Investigator: Pre-verbal and non-exact thoughts are vitally important. Withal, there is an intimate human relationship between thinking and using linguistic communication particularly when analysis and reflection are required. A family of comical remarks reflect this connectedness:
- How can I know what I retrieve till I see what I say?
- How tin I tell what I think till I know what I've said?
- I don't know what I think until I hear what I say.
Would you please explore this topic?
Quote Investigator: The earliest friction match known to QI appeared in the 1926 book "The Art of Thought" past Graham Wallas who was Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of London. Wallas suggested that the processes of thinking and expressing were entangled for the poet because the precise selection of words was crucial to success. Wallas attributed the saying under examination to an bearding immature girl. Boldface added to excerpts by QI: [1] 1926 Copyright, The Art of Thought by Graham Wallas (Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of London), Affiliate 4: Stages of Control, Quote Page 106, Harcourt, Caryatid and Company, … Continue reading
The piffling girl had the making of a poet in her who, existence told to be sure of her significant earlier she spoke, said, "How can I know what I think till I see what I say?" A modernistic professed thinker must, however, sooner or afterwards in the process of thought, make the conscious attempt of expression, with all its risks.
The next match known to QI appeared in the 1927 book "Aspects Of The Novel" past the prominent literary figure E. M. Forster who discussed the recent novel "Les Imitation Monnayeurs" ("The Counterfeiters") by André Gide. Gide'southward complex piece of work employed a novel-within-a-novel framework, and its plot was presented via fragments. Forster stated that the novel was "all to pieces logically".
In the following passage, Forster attributed the maxim under test to an old lady in an anecdote. The phrase "distinguished critic" was a humorous reference to the one-time lady: [two] 1927 Copyright, Aspects Of The Novel by East. M. Forster, Chapter 5: The Plot, Quote Page 152, Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York. (Verified with scans)
Some other distinguished critic has agreed with Gide—that former lady in the anecdote who was accused by her nieces of being illogical. For some time she could not be brought to understand what logic was, and when she grasped its true nature she was not so much angry as contemptuous. "Logic! Skilful gracious! What rubbish!" she exclaimed. "How can I tell what I think till I see what I say?" Her nieces, educated immature women, idea that she was passée; she was really more upwards to date than they were.
Thus, the saying was popularized by both Graham Wallas and Due east. K. Forster although both disclaimed credit for authorship. Instead, the words were ascribed to two bearding figures: a little girl and an one-time lady. The maxim has besides been attributed to Gide. The passage above is not easy to parse. Merely QI believes that the attribution to Gide is based on a misreading of Forster.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1928 Forster's volume was reviewed in "The Philadelphia Inquirer" of Pennsylvania. The reviewer incorrectly ascribed the anecdote to Gide: [3] 1928 Apr 28, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Aspects of the Novel Antiseptic by E. M. Forster: Reviewed by Edith Darrow Goldsmith, Quote Page 17, Cavalcade iii, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com)
The author illustrates the prevalent defoliation in the plots of modern novels by the anecdote taken from Gide of the old lady who disdained logic, "What rubbish!" she says, "How tin can I tell what I retrieve until I meet what I say?"
In 1934 Sir Herbert Samuel employed the saying together with a variant while speaking in the U.K. Parliament. His remarks appeared in the Hansard [4] 1934 May vii, Hansard, United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland Parliament, Commons Sitting, Orders of the Mean solar day: Supply, Speaking: Sir Herbert Samuel, Constituency: Darwen, volume 289 cc741-821. (Accessed api.parliament.uk on … Continue reading
and in "The Manchester Guardian": [5] 1934 May 8, The Manchester Guardian (The Guardian), House of Commons: Government and Empire Merchandise, Quote Folio 14, Column ane, London, England. (Newspapers_com)
It reminded him of the little daughter who said, "How practice I know what I think till I encounter what I say" (Laughter.) The Minister of Agriculture asked, apparently, "How do I know what I desire till I see what I practise?" (Opposition laughter.)
In 1943 "The Bennington Evening Imprint" printed a variant ascribed to a political effigy: [six] 1943 December 14, The Bennington Evening Banner, Our Strange Policy Fixed, Says Austin, Quote Page i, Column v,Bennington, Vermont. (Newspapers_com)
"I don't know what I think until I hear what I say" was the fashion Senator Austin referred to his present position on the subsidy effect. He frankly told his audience that he was withal listening to prove and said he would non take a stand until he "saw the issue clear"
In 1945 "The Sketch" of London printed a version: [7] 1945 January 24, The Sketch, Motley Notes by Alan Kemp, Quote Page 30, Column 1, London, England. (British Newspaper Archive)
. . . the well-known Communicative Woman: "How tin can I know what I think until I have heard what I've said?"
In 1949 "The Lexicon of Humorous Quotations" compiled by Evan Esar printed a thematically related statement attributed to the English writer Horace Walpole who died in 1797. Oddly, this is the first testify for this argument know to QI: [8] 1949, The Lexicon of Humorous Quotations, Compiled by Evan Esar, Section: Horace Walpole, Quote Page 210, Doubleday, Garden City, New York. (Verified on paper in 1989 reprint edition from Dorset … Continue reading
WALPOLE, Horace, I717-1797, English writer, letter writer, and antiquarian.
I never understand anything until I take written about it.
In 1949 "Fun Fare: A Treasury of Reader'south Digest Wit and Humor" included a short piece about a lady described as a "perpetual talker" who was asked if she ever idea with deliberation most what she was planning to say: [9] 1949, Fun Fare: A Treasury of Reader's Digest Wit and Humour, Section Remarkable Explanations, Quote Folio 208, The Reader's Assimilate Association Inc., Pleasantville, New York. (Verified with … Continue reading
"Why, no," said the lady solemnly. "How on world could I know what I think almost a thing until I've heard what I take to say on the subject field?"
— Murl Corbett
In 1956 the "Chicago Tribune" ascribed an instance to the English-American poet Due west. H. Auden, and pointed to a 1948 volume past Auden: [10] 1956 May ii, Chicago Daily Tribune, Rimes and Remnants by D. A., Quote Folio 16, Cavalcade 5, Chicago, Illinois. (Newspapers_com)
"How can I know what I think till I see what I say?"—W. H. Auden in "Poets at Work."
In 1961 scholar W. N. Ince as well credited Auden with the proverb: [xi] 1961, The Poetic Theory of Paul Valéry: Inspiration and Technique by West. N. Ince (Walter Newcombe Ince), Chapter 4: The stages of poetic cosmos, Section three: Limerick: The poet at piece of work, Quote … Proceed reading
Auden was making much the same indicate when he wrote:
How can I know what I think till I see what I say?
In 1962 W. H. Auden published "The Dyer'southward Manus And Other Essays". Auden carefully credited the maxim to the old lady in the tale relayed by E. Chiliad. Forster: [12] 1963 (1962 Copyright), The Dyer'south Hand And Other Essays by W. H. Auden (Wystan Hugh Auden), Part One: Prologue, Section: Writing, Quote Page 22, Faber and Faber, London. (Verified with scans)
A poet has to woo, not just his ain Muse merely too Matriarch Philology, and, for the beginner, the latter is the more of import. As a rule, the sign that a beginner has a genuine original talent is that he is more than interested in playing with words than in proverb something original; his attitude is that of the old lady, quoted by Due east. M. Forster—"How can I know what I call back till I run into what I say?" Information technology is merely later, when he has wooed and won Matriarch Philology, that he can give his entire devotion to his Muse.
C. Southward. Lewis was a notable fantasy writer and lay theologian who died in 1963. Lewis's literary executor, Walter Hooper, described a conversation during which Lewis employed a version of the saying: [13] 2007, The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Book 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy 1950-1963, Edited past Walter Hooper, Department; Preface by Walter Hooper, Quote Page sixteen, HarperSanFrancisco: A Partition … Continue reading
He told me that the matter he virtually loved about writing was that it did two things at one time. This he illustrated by saying: 'I don't know what I mean till I run across what I've said.' In other words, writing and thinking were a unmarried procedure.
In 1964 anti-totalitarian writer Arthur Koestler employed the saying: [xiv] 1964 Copyright, The Act of Creation by Arthur Koestler, Part 2: The Sage, Chapter seven: Thinking Aside, Quote Page 174, Hutchinson & Company, London. (Verified with scans)
The vital importance of language as a thought-crystallizer was perfectly described by little Alice who, on being admonished to think carefully before she spoke, indignantly exclaimed: 'How can I know what I think till I see what I say?' For information technology is, of course, undeniable that in some forms of intellectual activeness language is not just an indispensable tool, just that the stream of linguistic communication really carries the thought, so that the processes of ideation and verbal formulation become indistinguishable.
In 1968 "The New Yorker" printed an item containing a variant together with a citation: [15] 1968 October 26, The New Yorker, (Short humorous item), Quote Page 136, Column ii, F. R. Publishing Corporation, New York. (Online New Yorker archive of digital scans)
There is a certain wisdom in the quip made by a psychologist at Wood Pigsty: "How exercise I know what I think until I feel what I practise?"—Jerome S. Bruner in "The Process of Educational activity,"1960.
In 1987 "The Wit and Wisdom of the 20th Century" credited the saying to a political figure and presented a 1946 citation: [16] 1987, The Wit and Wisdom of the 20th Century: A Dictionary of Quotations, Compiled past Frank South. Pepper, Topic: Thought, Quote Page 359, Column 2, Peter Bedrick Books, New York. (Verified with hardcopy)
How tin I know what I think until I have heard what I have said?
Christopher Hollis (Conservative MP for Devizes).
Quoted News Review 12 December 1946
In 1990 Charles Handy who was a professor for many years at the London Business Schoolhouse credited the saying to an anonymous Irishman: [17] 1990 (Copyright 1989), The Age of Unreason by Charles Handy, Function One: Changing, Section three: The Theory, Quote Folio 67, Harvard Business concern School Press, Boston, Massachusetts. (Verified with scans)
I am a great laic in so-called Irish gaelic Teaching, named afterward the Irishman who reputedly said, "How do I know what I think until I hear what I say?"
In determination, in 1926 Graham Wallas attributed the expression to a petty girl. In 1927 E. M. Forster attributed the expression to an old lady. Both of them helped to popularize the proverb. W. H. Auden also used the saying, but he referred back to Forster.
Image Notes: Illustration of ear listening from geralt at Pixabay. Paradigm has been retouched and resized.
(Great thanks to Lee J. Rickard whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Rickard mentioned the citations for Wallas and Forster. Thanks to previous researchers such as Nigel Rees who explored this topic in "Cassell'southward Humorous Quotations" in 2001. Many thanks Jesse Sheidlower for accessing "The Art of Idea". Special thank you to Jim Cina who told QI about the citation containing the C.Due south. Lewis attribution.)
Update History: On December thirteen, 2019 the Walter Hooper citation was added.
Source: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/12/11/know-say/
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