So I’m sure you guys remember how I’m weird about occasionally trying to run down the origins of various aphorisms … A while back I tried to look into the (possibly apocryphal?) Chinese curse that people like to quote — “May you live in interesting times.” I posted about it at the end of March. (It felt timely then, and it still does.)
I stumbled across a three-tiered variant of the saying just yesterday. As it turns out, the curse in its purported entirety is as follows, or at least according to the Internet:
May you live in interesting times.
May you come to the attention of those in authority.
May the gods give you everything you ask for.
It’s interesting stuff. That bit about “the attention of those in authority” feels especially ominous in the Trump Age.
If any of you guys have any insight into exactly where this quote originated, please feel free to chime in.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 