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Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven But Nobody Wants To Die
The origins of this saying are uncertain. A few websites attribute it to boxer Joe Louis (1914-1981), while a more impressive site attributes it to African-American blues and jazz composer Tom Delaney (1889-1963).
Because we don’t know its origins we can’t be sure of its intended meaning, but when I heard it growing up in Tennessee it was never used to criticize someone’s lack of faith, which you might guess at first glance. Rather, it was used to criticize someone’s lack of will – people who wanted to have something but who didn’t want to do the things necessary to obtain it.
Because we don’t know its origins we can’t be sure of its intended meaning, but when I heard it growing up in Tennessee it was never used to criticize someone’s lack of faith, which you might guess at first glance. Rather, it was used to criticize someone’s lack of will – people who wanted to have something but who didn’t want to do the things necessary to obtain it.
<snip>
I see lots of people who want to be witches and Druids and priests and such. I see far fewer who are willing to do what’s necessary to become competent witches and Druids and priests and such. Honestly, though, I’m not very concerned with those folks.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2015/09/everybody-wants-to-go-to-heaven-but-nobody-wants-to-die.html