“It was true; so we turned to and licked ourselves”
1860s, The Good Fight (1865)
Context: European Toryism has long regarded us as a vulgar young giant sprawling and spitting over a continent, whose limbs were indeed too loose and ungainly to be very effective, but who might yet one day make trouble and require to be thrashed into decency and order. When Horace Greeley was in Paris, he was one morning looking with an American friend at the pictures in the gallery of the Louvre and talking of this country. 'The fact is', said Mister Greeley, 'that what we need is a darned good licking'. An Englishman who stood by and heard the conversation smiled eagerly, as if he knew a nation that would like to administer the castigation. 'Yes, sir', said he, complacently, rubbing his hands with appetite and joining in the conversation, 'that is just what you do want'. 'But the difficulty is', continued Mister Greeley to his friend as if he had heard nothing, 'the difficulty is that there's no nation in the world that can lick us'. It was true; so we turned to and licked ourselves. And it seems to me that a young giant who for the sake of order and humanity scourges himself at home, is not very likely wantonly to insult and outrage his neighbors. Indeed, measured by his neighbors who go marauding in India or China or Mexico, and through whose slippery neutral fingers a dozen privateers escape to sweep his commerce from the sea, he is an orderly and honorable citizen of the world. The British Tory mind did not believe that any popular government could subdue so formidable a rebellion. Mister Gladstone is not a Tory, but even he said, 'Great Britain could not do it, sir', and what Great Britain could not do he did not believe could be done. Perhaps he would have thought differently could he have heard what a friend of mine did when the Massachusetts Sixth Regiment passed through New York on its way to Washington. It was the first sign of war that New York had seen, and as Broadway stared gloomily at the soldiers steadily marching, my friend stepped into the street and, walking by the side of one of the ranks, asked the soldier nearest him from what part of the State he came. The soldier, solely intent upon stepping in time, made his reply in measure with the drum-beat, 'From Bunker Hill; from Bunker Hill; from Bunker Hill'.
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
George William Curtis 78
American writer 1824–1892Related quotes
"The Cage" (Star Trek first pilot), spoken by John Hoyt as "Dr. Philip Boyce" (0:06:18)
Cited in: Dubes 52, Surviving Katrina Before and After https://books.google.nl/books?id=wyySAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA35&dq=%22A+man+either+lives+life+as+it+happens+to+him,+meets+it+head-on+and+licks+it,+or+he+turns+his+back+on+it+and+starts+to+wither+away%22&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjsleOa8aHLAhUFIQ8KHdVnClIQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=%22A%20man%20either%20lives%20life%20as%20it%20happens%20to%20him%2C%20meets%20it%20head-on%20and%20licks%20it%2C%20or%20he%20turns%20his%20back%20on%20it%20and%20starts%20to%20wither%20away%22&f=false, 2014, p. 35
Through the course of time these lines have often been altered into "'Tis a gift", rather than the original "'Tis the gift". The song was largely unknown outside of the Shaker community until Aaron Copland used the melody in his 1944 composition "Appalachian Spring". Many people have thought that the tune of "Simple Gifts" is a traditional celtic tune (as it is implied to be, as used in the theatrical play Lord of the Dance) but the music and original lyrics are actually the compositions of Joseph Brackett. The original lyrics to a song "Lord of the Dance", based upon the tune, were written by the Quaker poet Sydney Carter in 1963, and these were adapted (in ignorance of the actual origins) without authorization or acknowledgments in the play, but acknowledgement was eventually made, and some royalty payments arranged. Several other adaptations and parodies have since occurred. · Alison Krauss performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBOYYlanm1k · Performance by the King's Singers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6yTRcr2dxM - GMCLA performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIx57ATBgZg · Arrangement by John Williams for the Inauguration of US President Barack Obama https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXEIiKZRgpo&spfreload=10
Simple Gifts (1848)
Context: p> 'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.When true simplicity is gain'd
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight
'Till by turning, turning we come round right.</p
Original: Nei momenti di fragilità abbiamo bisogno di fermarci, rilassarci, spegnere ogni tipo di pensiero, e ricominciare da noi stessi.
Source: prevale.net
