CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
"Society receives rich dividends from money invested in aid to the fatherless poor." From Advanced Course in Homemaking by Maude Richman Calvert and Leila Bunce Smith, 1939.
"The trouble with help is that there are several kinds; the kind you want, the kind you need, the kind you think you deserve — too many kinds." Froim Astounding magazine, 1959.
May your enthusiasm never be deflated by a rich benefactor's condescension and griping, and may you even still enjoy your consolation prizes. From Together, 1965.
Here's a precursor to our Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas. The caption reads, "Old Christmas — 'On acts of charity intent.'" From Judy, Or The London Serio-Comic Journal, 1882.
We find an explanation in Frank Crane's Just Human (1915): "Most so-called charity is evil. It is bad both ways. It deceives the giver by a false salve to his conscience. ... The gift is also a curse to the recipient. It destroys self-respect. Both takers and givers of charity are debased."