phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

Beppo!

Posted by Mrs. Malaprop on November 13, 2002

In Reply to: Going out with a bang posted by TheFallen on November 12, 2002

: : : : : : : Thanks Woodchuck!

: : : : : : : Those are close, maybe the one I am thinking of goes something like Religion is the crutch... or maybe the opium, something in that vein. Wish I could remember.

: : : : : : : Thanks again for your effort!

: : : : : : :
: : : : : : : : : Hi,

: : : : : : : : : I am looking for the correct phrase and origin of a phrase that goes something like, "Religion is the province of the uninspired." or something to that effect.

: : : : : : : : : Any help would be appreciated!

: : : : : : : : I can't find that phrasing in my references, but here are two of the more famous quotes expressing similar ideas.

: : : : : : : : "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people." - Karl Marx

: : : : : : : : "Religion is this. They act as in religion that is to say they neither wait nor stay away. Religion is best as it is. If they like it at all they like it all, not only more than once but often." - Gertrude Stein

: : : : : : Marx is often misquoted as having said "Religion is the opiate of the people." Perhaps that's what you had in mind.

: : : : :
: : : : : There are also slightly different translations of Mark kicking around which would account for some variation.

: : : :
: : : : I am no markist.

: : : You are right, of course, and I stand corrected. I was thinking of the second version as being an attempt to summarize the full quote, when in fact it's an alternate translation of the last line.

: : : Either that or I was confusing Karl with Groucho: "Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted."

: : Hey, kids, it's Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Gummo, and Zeppo.

: This from www.imdb.com.

: "The youngest of the Marx Brothers, Zeppo was put into the role of the straight man after his brother, Gummo, left the act. Zeppo also acted as an understudy to all three of his brothers, and he has been said to have played Groucho's part better than Groucho himself! After playing small parts in the first five Marx Brothers movies, Zeppo felt his talent wasn't being used to its full extent and left the act after teh making of "Duck Soup" to join Gummo as an agent. Somewhat of a mechanical whiz, Zeppo later invented a wristwatch that would monitor the pulse rate of cardiac patients, and his company, Marman Products, produced clamping devices which were used in the first atomic bomb raids over Japan in 1945. Zeppo died on November 30th, 1979 from cancer."

Interesting segue, TheFallen.

"Beppo" is a satire by Byron, by the way. Norm Crosby makes it look so easy. He asks for a cup of decapitated coffee, and gets a standing ovulation. I do it, and I just look dumb :)

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