Misattributed Quote (Perhaps)

[David]

I came across a quote on Goodreads that I loved that was attributed to one of my favorite poets, Matthew Arnold. It is the quote: “We are here on earth to do good to others. What the others are here for, I do not know.” I ended up doing a little digging to see where it came from and found that it is not actually Matthew Arnold. It is usually attributed to W. H. Auden. But then in trying to find the source in Auden, I actually found that it is not really his quote either. According to the Auden Society (http://www.audensociety.org/vivianfos...) it is actually a comedian, the Rev. Vivian Foster, The Vicar of Mirth.

So here's my question. Can I find out how the quote got attributed to Matthew Arnold and is it possible that he actually originated it? If not, can we get it corrected? I am currently propogating the misquote on my Facebook page.

[Empress]

Full link:
http://www.audensociety.org/vivianfos...

As long as there is some written proof of the original author of a quote, yes we can edit the author.

And in fact the quote from the page you post is on GR, twice:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7867...
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/6363...
I'm assuming this is the one you are referring to: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1768...


The question is should the 3 be merged, the quotes are slightly different and I don't usually do edits there so I'm gonna leave that to the more experienced librarians.

[David]

I'm afraid that until I find the actual original source, I'm hesitant to either rule on it or to recommend changing what's there. But it seems to me that the longer W. H. Auden quote is probably the right one and that the shorter quote is actually him quoting the British comic, The Vicar of Mirth, within the longer more serious quote. It's certainly interesting.

[Empress]

David wrote: "I'm afraid that until I find the actual original source, I'm hesitant to either rule on it or to recommend changing what's there. But it seems to me that the longer W. H. Auden quote is probably t..."

Since everyone can ad quote to GR such things happen. Recently I was editing quotes from Sun Tzu and one of "his" quotes was just a reference note in the book, so people do get confused.

[Banjomike]

From the dates it looks like the attribution should be to John Foster Hall or his stage name Vivian Foster. Auden would appear to be out of the running since he wasn't in print at the time Foster recorded the quote. Matthew Arnold predates Foster but there seem to be no references for Arnold saying/writing it.

The original version is:
"We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for, I don't know."

[David]

I think you are correct. Though I would love to find a source that actually showed that it was from Arnold. But credit should be given where due.