May 28, 2011

“Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves.”


THE FAMOUS PENCE AND POUNDS QUOTE:

“Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves.” 
       William Lowndes (1652-1724)
       British politician
       Quoted by Lord Chesterfield (Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield) in a letter to his son, dated Feb. 5, 1750


DOROTHY PARKER’S COUNTERQUOTE:

“Take care of the luxuries and the necessities will take care of themselves.” 
      
Dorothy Parker (1893-1967)
       American writer and critic
       A quip
widely attributed to Parker, though possibly originated by Oscar Wilde


NOEL COWARD’S PANSY ANECDOTE:

“Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound brought his boat in...and Noel [Coward] and friends — Doris Casterlosse, Ivor Novello, Douglas Fairbanks and Lady Ashley — went aboard for parties. Lady Casterlosse and Coward were given an open guest list by Sir Dudley and Lady Pound for one party. Casterlosse confided, ‘Noel, I have a dreadful feeling we've asked too many queer people.’ Coward reassured her, ‘If we take care of the pansies, the Pounds will take care of themselves.’”
       Noel Coward (1899-1973)
       British playwright and composer 
       From Philip Hoare’s book
Noël Coward: A Biography (1998)


AN AVID GARDENER’S ADVICE:

“If you take care of your peonies, the dahlias will look after themselves.” 
      
Franklin P. Adams (1881-1960) 
       American writer and avid gardener 
       Adams’
variously-reported response when asked how he grew the prize dahlias in his garden. (The pun was probably already in use among avid gardeners.)


HARLAN ELLISON’S ADVICE:

“A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it. That is the heart of it. Now begin in the middle, and later learn the beginning; the end will take care of itself.”  
       Harlan Ellison (b. 1943) 
       American author and screenwriter
       In his famous, non-linear science fiction story, “Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman (1965)

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