So now RichardKennaway’s comment says that the earliest appearance known to Wikiquote is from 1851 … but it links to Wikiquote’s page about Jonathan Swift, with that same quotation. Richard, did you half-edit your comment?
No, Google led me to a version of the quote in the section of unverified Swift quotes. I didn’t notice that the same thought with slightly different wording appears earlier with a verifiable attribution.
So now RichardKennaway’s comment says that the earliest appearance known to Wikiquote is from 1851 … but it links to Wikiquote’s page about Jonathan Swift, with that same quotation. Richard, did you half-edit your comment?
No, Google led me to a version of the quote in the section of unverified Swift quotes. I didn’t notice that the same thought with slightly different wording appears earlier with a verifiable attribution.
Oh yes. How strange. I’ve tweaked the WQ page to make this less likely to recur.