John Muir and Twinkie Tweets

Famous people are misquoted on the Internet, Facebook, and Twitter daily. Like most of my friends and colleagues, I now never pass a quote on unless I do some investigation to see if it is accurate. And typically I don't repeat online any accurate quotes either; more about why in a minute.

Today I saw somewhere online a quotation attributed to John Muir, a man I admire and the person for whom my grammar school was named. With a few short words, in this alleged quote, he summarized systems. Some day in the future I may want to use this quote so I began to research its veracity. The quote I'd seen was not accurate, but I found something better. From "John Muir Misquoted" (Sierra Club Web site):

Misquote Alert: "When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."

John Muir Quotations

We are frequently asked for the source of the above quote, which for some reason has been included in many popular "favorite quotes" websites around the Internet, and is indiscriminately posted on Twitter and other social networks. We even found it being mistakenly used by Smith & Hawken on a 2007 gift card and in several products in the Northern Sun catalog. Worse, we even found it engraved on granite! Actually, this statement is NOT what Muir wrote. It is only a shortened paraphrase of what Muir wrote, and is not nearly as interesting, eloquent, and charming as Muir's original.

Another variant of this misquote found on the Internet likewise mistakenly attributed to John Muir is this one:

"Tug on anything at all and you'll find it connected to everything else in the universe."

Once again - Muir never said this! Neither of these quotes attributed to John Muir are correct. They are simply paraphrases of the fundamental ecological principle of connectedness that Muir is considered to be one of the first to articulate.

...

Here is the correct John Muir quote as Muir wrote and published it:

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."

Regardless of whether or not they are accurate, I often wonder why people Tweet and reTweet many of the quotes I see floating through my Twitter stream. These words do not carry wisdom or wit. Like Twinkies, they are puffy with air, devoid of any value other than empty calories and cheap entertainment, a waste of resources, and saccharine. This week I began to label them in my mind as Twinkie Tweets. Seen any in your stream?

Of course, many people do like Twinkies, they buy them, they eat them. Our tastes in desserts and snacks

vary wildly. But just as I would not bring Ding Dongs or anything with high fructose corn syrup in my home, I wish I did not see Twinkie Tweets on my desktop. Why don't I just unfollow the Twinkie Tweeters, one might ask. In most cases I have, but a few of the people who typically Tweet links I find helpful will once in a while go into a Twinkie-Tweet gorging (maybe disgorging) fit. So I just click and ignore.

And as they float sugary sayings into Twitter, I wonder: Why, why, why did you Tweet that? Why?

Well, you know what John Muir said: When one sends a single Tweet into Twitter, he finds it attached to the rest of the Twitterverse.

Maybe Twinkies and chocolate ganache are all part of one big whole.

Comments

[Ashley Casas]

I see a lot of Twinkie Tweets on my timeline as well. I also have to admit that I am guilty if doing the same. Having read this post however, I will now refrain from tweeting Twinkie Tweets. Thanks for this post!