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> I've heard a quotation, or a varition of a quotation, that goes >something like: > >"Profanity is the effort of a weak mind to express itself forcefully." > >I thought it came from an early President, and it seems characteristic >of Thomas Jefferson. Nevertheless, I've not been able to find it for >certain. > >Do you know of this quotation? If so, was it said by Jefferson, or by >someone else? I have seen this quote before (or one similar to it), on one of the Newsgroups, I believe. I have not seen it in Jefferson's writings, and it doesn't quite sound like Jefferson to me. If it was by one of the Founders, I would guess John Adams before Jefferson, since he was a bit more brusque. Were Jefferson to express the same idea, he would probably do it more elaborately, such as, Weak minds resort to profanity in a vain effort to express themselves more forcefully. But that it just my guess; I don't really think Jefferson was the author. It may be that you could run a part of the quote through Deja News and discover the author. Sorry I could not be of more help. Best wishes, Eyler Coates