“God is a witness that cannot be sworn.”

—  Samuel Beckett , book Watt

Part I, p. 4
Watt (1943)

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Samuel Beckett photo
Samuel Beckett 122
Irish novelist, playwright, and poet 1906–1989

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This has commonly been quoted as "I have sworn upon the altar of God Eternal, hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man", "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man", and "I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Neither capitalization of "god" and "eternal", nor a comma before or after "eternal" are apparent in the original. Photograph of the original manuscript at the Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/master/mss/mtj/mtj1/022/0400/0440.jpg - LOC transcription http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field(DOCID+@lit(tj090069)) <!-- NOTE : though this transcription has a comma between god and eternal in there is no comma apparent in the photograph and where grammar might best place it remains ambiguous. -->
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