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69 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, May 24, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Biz Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 12, 2005 Since You Asked Famous quote may be rightly attributed to JFK The quote "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" is always credited to John F. Kennedy. Wasn’t it in fact coined by Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes? — J.C., Medford Ah, the JFK Plagiarism Conspiracy rears its ugly head. Will it never end, J.C.? OK, seriously, we’ll grant you this much. It has been rumored the famous line in JFK’s 1961 inaugural address was inspired by others. Earlier occurrences of similar expressions or ideas are known to exist — and are sometimes cited as possible inspiration. But how many original thoughts are out there anymore, anyway? We took your query to Wikiquote.com (and a zillion other Web sites), and we found the following Holmes quote from a Memorial Day speech in Keene, N.H., on May 30, 1884: "It is now the moment when by common consent we pause to become conscious of our national life and to rejoice in it, to recall what our country has done for each of us, and to ask ourselves what we can do for our country in return." Advertisement Others have said JFK’s words were borrowed from writer and poet Khalil Gibran: "Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country?" However, Wikiquote says Gibran’s translator may have been inspired by Kennedy in the translation penned a decade after JFK’s speech. Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to [email protected] . We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg diamonds Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Auto Insurance Mesothelioma Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Payday Loans Advertisement s