Updated: Glenn Beck Pwned?

Update: Yeah, pwned. h/t Lala in comments. She's good!

Status: This exact quotation has not been found in any of the writings of Thomas Jefferson. It bears a very vague resemblance to Jefferson's comment in a prospectus for his translation of Destutt de Tracy's Treatise on Political Economy: "To take from one, because it is thought that his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, ‘the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry, & the fruits acquired by it.'"

 

Hmm. I have tried looking into this. Plenty of web cites for Jefferson. I did find one on a board attributing it to Washington, though. And one to unknown. Any help on the quote, let me know.

Beck was, as usual, standing in front of his blackboard. Chalked on it was:

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” Thomas Jefferson

It is a sentiment with which I completely agree. I’ve written whole books with that sentiment as the subtext. The problem: The quote is a fake. Thomas Jefferson never said it. Jefferson would have been sympathetic to the idea, as other writings clearly imply. But he didn’t actually say it. In front of a national television audience, Glenn Beck put up a quote that his researchers would have discovered is a fake if they had done the slightest bit of Googling.

Saw this on a board posting, not a definitive source. I'm getting spam to promote his Christmas picture book, too. Something about a boy and his sweater? What's that, his fourth book this year? The guy's a cash making machine, have to give him that.

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." ...George Washington

Comments

[Al in St. Lou]

And the left will probably spin it as Beck being some sort of liar.

[Dan Riehl]

I just want to know who made the quote. If I were looking, from what I saw, I'd assume Jefferson. But most it didn't come from reliable cites. I couldn't find one of those attributing it to anyone.

[Lala]

http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/The_democracy_will_cease_to_exist

they say first found in print 1986, no attributes

[Marie A Cole]

http://greensboring.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=10023
"The republic will cease to exist when Government takes from those who are industrious and gives to those who refuse to work.”

-Thomas Jefferson

I don't think Jefferson would have used the word "democracy" .. I think Republic is more in line with his thinking. Hope this helps .. but I'm afraid it just makes it worse.

[JadedByPolitics]

Oh my so Glenn Beck has made an error and the little disgusting putrid leftists are upset? GOOD! perhaps their tiny heads will explode and they will drop dead in their pool of hate!

[Dan Riehl]

AEI isn't Leftist, it's conservative.

[your mama]

Glenn Beck,the only man that has the balls to say what needs to be said.Good for him.

[Sara]

Well, the geniuses in the White House could have called him up (as he's been begging them to do) and told him he made a mistake...

Oh, wait. They don't know who said it either. Never mind. :)

[Huey]

Sigh....

On a scale of 1-1000 of "things someone did wrong," this is like a negative million.

Bah. 5 minutes of my time wasted.

[Gary]

Minor. Beck is usually pretty good on accuracy. You pretty much have to be in this age of bloggers and the Internet, especially if you're so high profile.

Olberman doesn't need to be so concerned. Nobody seems to be watching, and nobody seems to ever talk about him, good or bad.

[Gary]

Minor. Beck is usually pretty good on accuracy. You pretty much have to be in this age of bloggers and the Internet, especially if you're so high profile.

Olberman doesn't need to be so concerned. Nobody seems to be watching, and nobody seems to ever talk about him, good or bad.

[Bruce, NV]

*yawn*

[Ran / Si Vis Pacem]

Oh please. Beck is going to be sloppy and even dead wrong on some things now and then. He may yet provide a source for the quotation. Either way, he's one of the few I know of with the balls to correct his own errors up-front.

By the way... Google is good, but it's hardly complete. I've got great books here on my shelf - for example, the Borzoi editions of De Tocqueville - that weren't on Google last time I checked.

[Dan Riehl]

I couldn't care less about Beck. Quotes deserve to be appropriately sourced, especially as regards Jefferson and many others. Get over it. You folks would be all over Olbermann or a lib if they did it. Have some intellectual standards when it comes to the Founders, if no one else, for kee-rist's sake.

[Greyledge Gal]

This quote is all over the internet attributed to Thomas Jefferson. It's even on http://www.brainyquote.com which is a collection of quotations from famous/infamous persons.

While I agree that on-air personalities should try to be as accurate as possible, I think it is understandable that any fact-checker would probably say attributing the quote to Jefferson passes the smell test. It is certainly not an attempt by Beck to purposefully mislead.

If you are so worried, why don't you write him about it or call his Fox staff and see if he corrects himself on the air (that is, if he doesn't have it sourced).

Alternately, you might contact a Jefferson historian (I am sure you could do this either through Monticello or the University of Virginia) for confirmation or denial?

[Dan Riehl]

The link in the update above confirms it. It's pretty clear to me:

This exact quotation has not been found in any of the writings of Thomas Jefferson.