Excellent advice. Too bad neither the Diocese of Albany nor the USCCB took it.
By Donald R. McClarey, JD
Saint Thomas Aquinas never said it, although it is all over the internet. Go here to read about the provenance of the quote. The internet gives fake quotes wings. Next time you come up on what looks like a fake quote, consider the following:
- Is the quote dated and sourced? Especially for a writer with a huge output like Saint Thomas, the lack of sourcing is a dead give away.
- Does the quote sound like the person it is attributed to? Raw ignorance of the person cited is ever an aid to a fake quote.
- Does the sentiment expressed sound like something you would see on a commercial inspirational card?
- Is the quote cute and/or pithy?
- Is it sourced to other people? A few minutes of internet research can reveal this.
- Is the person the quote is ascribed to a really big name? Fake quotes are almost never ascribed to obscure sources. The personage the quote is attributed to is chosen to lend support to the quote.
- Does the quote only start appearing at a date long after the person who it is ascribed to died? This quote goes back to the nineteenth century, but most fake internet quotes go back only to the 20th century, and usually the last few decades of the prior century.
- Is it concise? The age of the soundbite likes concise. Times past not so much.
- Is the quote freestanding with no context for the quote ever given?
- Is is endlessly repeated on the internet? Real quotes rarely are. Fake quotes are designed to pass swiftly from pen to pen and mouth to mouth.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are subject to deletion if they are not germane. I have no problem with a bit of colourful language, but blasphemy or depraved profanity will not be allowed. Attacks on the Catholic Faith will not be tolerated. Comments will be deleted that are republican (Yanks! Note the lower case 'r'!), attacks on the legitimacy of Pope Francis as the Vicar of Christ (I know he's a material heretic and a Protector of Perverts, and I definitely want him gone yesterday! However, he is Pope, and I pray for him every day.), the legitimacy of the House of Windsor or of the claims of the Elder Line of the House of France, or attacks on the legitimacy of any of the currently ruling Houses of Europe.