| The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996. |
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| NUMBER: | 26503 |
| QUOTATION: | I wish I had the voice of Homer
To sing of rectal carcinoma. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | J.B.S. (John Burdon Sanderson) Haldane (1892–1964), British scientist. Cancer’s a Funny Thing, New Statesman (London, Feb. 21, 1964).
“The main functions of my rhyme,” Haldane wrote, “were to induce cancer patients to be operated on early and to be cheerful about it.” The poem describes Haldane’s colostomy. |
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| | | The Columbia World of Quotations. Copyright © 1996 Columbia University Press. |
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