My search from Palin to a 1938 Times article & WC Fields #funny #uu #quote
In the past few days several people have told me UU quotes that seemed so simple that it seemed like anyone could have said them. Why attribute them to a Unitarian, Universalist, or UU? I thought, 1) I hang out with UUs, 2) there are many UU authors and controversial ministers, 3) ? well, there's got to be several explanations, but it made me wonder.
Then when I read about one today who Palin supposedly quoted, I had to look it up. The quote was, "Dead fish float with the tide; live ones swim against it." The question about Palin quoting that in her resignation speech may have been a joke, but in her explanation the next day, there sure was a lot of similar talk there.
So who said that? Rev. Henry Clay Ledyard and I found a Times article from 1938 about him and a sermon called, "Why I Am Not a Christian". Wow! I thought the Universalists were more held to Christianity than Unitarians were. I need to read up more on UU history. (So much to read, so little time.)
But why would Sarah Palin know about him? Well I figured she probably wouldn't, so I looked up dead fish quotes and it turns out WC Fields said, "Remember, a dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream." She might have heard that and that might have become a common saying.
Funny! And one more thing: Rev. Henry Clay Ledyard and WC Fields were both born in 1880. Some say that there are no coincidences. (Probably some UU.)
Then when I read about one today who Palin supposedly quoted, I had to look it up. The quote was, "Dead fish float with the tide; live ones swim against it." The question about Palin quoting that in her resignation speech may have been a joke, but in her explanation the next day, there sure was a lot of similar talk there.
So who said that? Rev. Henry Clay Ledyard and I found a Times article from 1938 about him and a sermon called, "Why I Am Not a Christian". Wow! I thought the Universalists were more held to Christianity than Unitarians were. I need to read up more on UU history. (So much to read, so little time.)
But why would Sarah Palin know about him? Well I figured she probably wouldn't, so I looked up dead fish quotes and it turns out WC Fields said, "Remember, a dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream." She might have heard that and that might have become a common saying.
Funny! And one more thing: Rev. Henry Clay Ledyard and WC Fields were both born in 1880. Some say that there are no coincidences. (Probably some UU.)