I saw a creepy hospice volunteer search ad on the street a few days ago. It said something along the lines of “They will be grateful to you for the rest of their lives.” Like an inappropriate joke.
I think it’s more elegant to say it like this: “Light a man a fire and he’ll be warm for a day. Light a man afire and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.”
(Terry Pratchett, I think.)
I saw a creepy hospice volunteer search ad on the street a few days ago. It said something along the lines of “They will be grateful to you for the rest of their lives.” Like an inappropriate joke.
That’s… disturbing, but also weirdly compelling.
I think it’s more elegant to say it like this: “Light a man a fire and he’ll be warm for a day. Light a man afire and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.”
In text, yes. I said it aloud a few times and I couldn’t tell the two apart easily. Maybe “light a man A fire / light a man ON fire”
I’ve successfully delivered “a fire”/”afire” aloud, but it’s a little tricky to time right.
A little gesturing will likely help a lot.
I find my formulation slightly quicker to parse, but otherwise you’re right.
From Jingo, IIRC. Also I think the second line began “But set fire to him...”
IIRC, he uses this joke several times.
Ah, nevermind then.