Goodreads Librarians Group discussion

The quote "How lucky I am to have something which makes saying goodbye so hard" is attributed to A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh, on this site and many others. However, I don't believe this quote is in any of the Pooh books. Can you confirm? Thanks.

Jane wrote: "The quote "How lucky I am to have something which makes saying goodbye so hard" is attributed to A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh, on this site and many others. However, I don't believe this quote is in any of the Pooh books. Can you confirm? Thanks. "

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/2556...

I've removed the Winnie the Pooh attribution because the quote isn't from any of the Pooh books but could still be an A.A. Milne quote. More research is required...

Thanks. I look forward to seeing the results of your research.

Frankly, an awful lot of the supposed 'AA Milne' or 'Winnie the Pooh' quotes seem stylistically very unlikely and I suspect them of being from the Disney films rather than anything Milne wrote.

For example ""If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you." does not appear in 'Winnie the Pooh' as stated. In 'The House at Pooh Corner', Ch X 'An Enchanted Place', Christopher Robin says "Pooh, promise me you won't forget about me, ever. Not even when I'm a hundred" but that's the only reference to living to be a hundred in either book.

"If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you" and
"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think" are not in either book and no reference is given at all other than 'AA Milne'.
It would be impossible to prove he never said or wrote those words, but the use of 'smarter' to mean 'more intelligent' would indicate that they came from an American rather than an Englishman, to whom it means 'better-dressed' or possibly 'cheekier'.

Banjomike wrote: "I've removed the Winnie the Pooh attribution because the quote isn't from any of the Pooh books but could still be an A.A. Milne quote. More research is required... "

Surely it's up to the person supplying the quote to produce a verifiable reference? There are a huge number of bogus 'A A Milne' quotes washing around social media at the moment, where anybody can produce any sentimental guff they like and attribute it to who they like. I would have thought a site of serious information like this one would be more fastidious.

Jenny wrote: "Surely it's up to the person supplying the quote to produce a verifiable reference?"

Sounds like this might be a suggestion for the Goodreads Feedback group https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1 It's really nothing librarians have any control over.

Your valiant effort to verify this Milne Quote prompts me to raise a similar question. My wife and I are co-authors of two nonfiction Amazon.com E-Books on the Goodreads platform. The first book quotes G.K. Chesterton, but the attribution to him is in question. Writing of the "group think" we mention in "Collaborating" that "The British Humorist G.K. Chesterton, for instance worked in such close partnership with fellow author Hillaire Belloc that the two become know as the Chesterbelloc. But Chesteron once observed in verse: "I've searched all the parks in all the cities and found no statues of committees."

In 2010 we queried Dale Ahlquist, president of the Chesterton Society in Minnesota, if he could verify the quote; he was unable to, so we footnoted to his doubt. Is there a librarian who can guide us further, so we can revise the text if necessary at the earliest date possible?

Lyn (+ Hanni) Shepard, Berne, Switzerland, authors of "Collaborating: The Bittersweet Challenge of Working Together"

I've reattributed "If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you" to Joan Powers.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/3026...

Banjomike wrote: "I've reattributed "If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you" to Joan Powers.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/3026...-..."

THANKS!!

Jane wrote: "Banjomike wrote: "I've reattributed "If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you" to Joan Powers.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes..."

What about the quote I inquired about, the one about having something which makes saying goodbye so hard - the original quote that started this thread??

Jane wrote: "What about the quote I inquired about, the one about having something which makes saying goodbye so hard - the original quote that started this thread?? "

Not forgotten.

The source of that quote seems to be Evans G. Valens. His book A Long Way Up: The Story Of Jill Kinmont was made into the film The Other Side of the Mountain. The quote "How lucky I am to have known somebody and something that saying goodbye to is so damned awful." is in the movie but I have had no success in tracking down the book to see if the quotation is in the original book. I've changed the attribution to Evans G. Valens and added the tag "misattributed-to-a-a-milne". More research is required...

Edited quotation

Banjomike wrote: "Jane wrote: "What about the quote I inquired about, the one about having something which makes saying goodbye so hard - the original quote that started this thread?? "

Not forgotten.

The source ..."
THANKS! Most helpful!

Satia wrote: "I found where the "stronger than you believe" quote. (Someone may have already found it but I don't see it so I'm just jumping in with this.) It's from Pooh's Grand Adventure, written by Carter Crocker and Karl Geurs. Definitely not A A Milne."

This one has been attributed to Carter Crocker for a while.
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/2183...