“I cannot tell how the truth may be;
I say the tale as 'twas said to me.”
Walter Scott The Lay of the Last Minstrel
Canto II, stanza 22.
The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805)
“"And everybody praised the Duke
Who this great fight did win."
"But what good came of it at last?"
Quoth little Peterkin.
"Why, that I cannot tell," said he,
"But 'twas a famous victory."”
St. 11. <br class="br"> The Battle of Blenheim http://www.poetry-archive.com/s/the_battle_of_blenheim.html (1798)
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Who this great fight did win."
"But what good came of it at last?"
Quoth little Pete…" by Robert Southey?
Robert Southey51
British poet 1774–1843Related quotes
“He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious.”
Sun Tzu (-543–-495 BC) ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty
Source: The Art of War, Chapter III · Strategic Attack
“He who praises everybody praises nobody.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer
Johnson's Works (1787), vol. XI, p. 216; This set included the Life of Samuel Johnson by Sir John Hawkins
“Normally, as long as I'm telling him what to do, he wins in a fight.”
Rick Riordan book The Demigod Files
Source: The Demigod Files
Bernard Cornwell (1944) British writer
Narrator, describing Marshal André Masséna, p. 265
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Battle (1995)
“For if everybody else is also not what Jesus said he was, what good is what he said?”
William Saroyan (1908–1981) American writer
Sons Come and Go, Mothers Hang in Forever (1976)
Context: Jesus never said anything about absurdity, and he never indicated for one flash of time that he was aware of the preposterousness of his theory about himself. And he didn't even try to make the theory understandable in terms of the reality and experience of the rest of us. For if everybody else is also not what Jesus said he was, what good is what he said?
“I cannot tell a lie, I did it with my little hatchet.”
George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States
The earliest source of this quote was a famous anecdote in The Life of George Washington, with Curious Anecdotes Laudable to Himself and Exemplary to his Countrymen (1806) by Parson Weems, which is not considered a credible source, and many incidents recounted in the work are now considered to have sprung entirely from Weems’ imagination. This derives from an anecdote of Washington, as a young boy, confessing to his father Augustine Washington that it was he who had cut a cherished cherry tree.
Variant:Father, I cannot tell a lie, I cut the tree.
Misattributed, Spurious attributions
“I cannot tell a lie, I did it with my little hatchet.”
Mason Weems (1759–1825) fictionalizing biographer of George Washington
Portrayed as the words of the young George Washington, confessing to have damaged a cherry tree in Life of Washington (1800)
Alvin C. York (1887–1964) United States Army Medal of Honor recipient
Address on Memorial Day ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (30 May 1941), as recorded in Congressional Record, 77th Congress, First Session, Appendix, Vol. 87, Pt. 12 https://books.google.com/books?id=cm64vikAjIMC&pg=SL1-PA2692
Alvin C. York (1887–1964) United States Army Medal of Honor recipient
Address on Memorial Day ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (30 May 1941), as recorded in Congressional Record, 77th Congress, First Session, Appendix, Vol. 87, Pt. 12 https://books.google.com/books?id=cm64vikAjIMC&pg=SL1-PA2692