- This too shall pass
"This too shall pass" (
Hebrew : גם זה יעבור, gam zeh yaavor) is a phrase occurring in a Jewish wisdomfolktale involvingKing Solomon . The phrase is commonly engraved onsilver rings.Many versions of the folktale have been recorded by the Israel
Folklore Archive at theUniversity of Haifa . Heda Jason recorded this version told by David Franko fromTurkey : The phrase "This too shall pass" and the associated ring story were made popular byAbraham Lincoln in his 'Address Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin' onSeptember 30 ,1859 :The
UC Berkeley folklorist Archer Taylor made a critical study of the sources and influence of the "This too shall pass" phrase. [Archer Taylor, "This Too Will Pass (Jason 910Q)", pp.345-350 in Volksüberlieferung: Festschrift für Kurt Ranke. F. Harkort, K. C. Peeters, and R. Wildhaber, eds. Göttingen, Schwartz, 1968]The Quote Verifier book [Ralph Keyes, "The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When", p. 159, St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (May 30, 2006), ISBN: 0312340044] , on Page 159, states that this phrase has come from old Sufism, which predates Islam. In the King Solomon story, reference is made to an old man who gave the ring to Benaiah, Solomon's minister. It is possible that the old man had known this phrase from old stories about a Persian King.
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