Help with source

[B. Hatcher]

  Well, barring those who don't care for cocktail parties, my initial 
query on the alleged "Sanskrit proverb" generated a few responses (thanks 
to the person who responded to me directly regarding a possible link to 
the Dhammapada).  It certainly is curious to find how ubiquitous this 
little ditty has apparently become.  If it is a staple of greeting cards 
and if it is in fact being passed off as something genuine from the 
"Sanskrit", I for one would still be interested to see if that claim can be 
substantiated.  As Lance Cousins suggests it has such a generic flavor of 
"deep thoughts" that one really doubts the claim.  But then, if you 
take the first two verses of the Dhammapada and render them with *extreme* 
license could you come up with this poem (Mascaro's Penguin trans. seems 
to move in this direction--though I hesitate to raise the matter of 
Penguin translations!).

 Anyone care to continue this thread, or shall we close up the bar?

Brian Hatcher
Dept. of Religion
Illinois Wesleyan University
Bloomington, IL  61701