This Day in History: Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the trial R v Penguin Books Ltd, the Lady Chatterley's Lover case, on this day in 1960. Lady Chatterley's Lover is one of those books best known for the controversy surrounding it than for the literary merit of the book. In fact, it may be the most banned book ever.
"It’s hard to imagine what a stir 'Lady Chatterley’s Lover' caused in the late 1920s when Lawrence had it privately published and began mailing copies abroad. Governments around the world immediately banned the novel. Some booksellers caught selling it were jailed. In 1930, when the U.S. Senate considered loosening import restrictions on books, Sen. Reed Smoot (R-Utah) strenuously objected. Just days after Lawrence died in France, Smoot declared that 'Lady Chatterley’s Lover' was “written by a man with a diseased mind and a soul so black that he would even obscure the darkness of hell.” He expressed concern that reading it could corrupt even the morals of U.S. senators, which is possibly the funniest thing anyone has ever said in Washington."~
Ron Charles
Lady Chatterley's Lover, written in 1917 and secretly published in 1928, is an early example of a book that used the F word, and we can thank the Germans for giving us this word. "The f-word is of Germanic origin, related to Dutch, German, and Swedish words for 'to strike' and 'to move back and forth.'"~
Melissa Mohr
Norman Mailer replaced the F word with ‘fug’ in his book The Naked and the Dead (1948). The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger featured the use of F you in print. First published in the United States in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye remains controversial to this day due in part to its use of the word, standing at number 13 for the most banned books from 1990 to 2000 according to the American Library Association.
After winning its case in court, Lady Chatterley's Lover quickly sold three million copies.
Many today are intent on defending profanity, but others see swearing in another light:
“Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly.” Spencer W. Kimball
“profanity and obscenity entitle people who don't want unpleasant information to close their ears and eyes to you.” Kurt Vonnegut
"By vulgarity I mean that vice of civilization which makes man ashamed of himself and his next of kin, and pretend to be somebody else." -Solomon Schechter
"The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it." -George Washington
"Profaneness is a brutal vice. [The person] who indulges in it is no [gentleperson]." -Edwin Hubbel Chapin
"Most people who commit a sin count on some personal benefit to be derived therefrom, but profanity has not even this excuse." -Hosea Ballou
"A single profane expression betrays a [person's] low breeding." -Joseph Cook
"The higher a man stands, the more the word vulgar becomes unintelligible to him." -John Ruskin
"I believe that swearing decreases your reach and offers little benefit in return. Swearing is guaranteed to reduce the size of your potential audience." -Scott Hanselman
"Of all the dark catalogue of sins there is not one more vile and execrable than profaneness..." -Samuel H. Cox
"From a common custom of swearing [people] easily slide into perjury; therefore, if thou wouldst not be perjured, do not use thyself to swear." -Hierocles
"Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent." - Dionysius of Halicarnassus
"Profanity is the crutch of a conversational cripple." ~ Jay Alexander
"Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little." - Tom Stoppard
"To swear is neither brave, polite, nor wise." -Alexander Pope
"you take no chances of offending by not swearing, but you guarantee to offend someone if you do." Scott Hanselman
"Obscenity, which is ever blasphemy against the divine beauty in life... is a monster for which the corruption of society forever brings forth new food, which it devours in secret." -Percy Bysshe Shelley
"Be careful of your words, for they become your thoughts. Be careful of your thoughts, for they become your actions. Be careful of your actions, for they become your character. Be careful of your character, for it becomes your destiny." - Anonymous
"I find most people who swear a lot have little else to say, and generally aren't worth listening to. If you can't make your point without swearing then you're a poor communicator." -Cameron MacFarland
"A vessel is known by the sound, whether it be cracked or not, so [people] are proved by their speeches whether they be wise or not." - Demosthene
"Such as thy words are, such will thine affections be esteemed; and such as thine affections, will be thy deeds; and such as thy deeds will be thy life." - Socrates
"Rudeness is the weak [person's] imitation of strength." - Eric Hoffer
"Profanity is the last refuge of the truly ignorant." - Anonymous
"By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his [or her] stomach." - Winston Churchill
"Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret." - Ambrose Bierce
"If you wouldn't write it and sign it, don't say it." - Earl Wilson
"I do not use profanity in my novels. My characters all go to church." Nicholas Sparks
"If you can’t be interesting without profanity, then let’s face it: You’re not that interesting." -Michael Hyatt
"We dress our bodies with good care and taste. We decorate and adorn them. Are not our thoughts of much more value?" -George Sumner Weaver
