Re: STFW Replies

[Hans Boldt <boldt@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Douglas Handy wrote:
> Shannon,
>
>
> > I'm a huge believer in the biblical adage:  "Give a man a fish and he'll eat
> > for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime.". 
>
>
> That's in the Bible?  Care to give a reference?  I think that was Lao Tzu who is
> credited with that saying.
>
> Like Ben Franklink, Mark Twain, and many others, the Bible is often given as the
> source of many things it never said...
> ... 

As is Lao Tzu. The only piece of writing attributed to Lao Tzu is 
the Tao Te Ching, which does not include the "Give a man a fish" 
saying. Some historians believe the Tao Te Ching to be a compilation 
of works by a number of people writing under the pen name "Lao Tzu". 
Probably the best you can say of the source of that quote is that it 
is a "Chinese proverb".

But to get back on topic, I agree that it is usually best to direct 
people to the sources of information. Or to FAQ archives. Although 
often a question can be answered easily with just a few words, many 
times the same questions get asked so often that many of us couldn't 
be bothered with writing the same answer over and over again. It is 
standard netiquette on most on-line fora to expect a person to do a 
bit of research on their before posting a question.

Cheers! Hans