The importance of accurate referencing

One thing that I try to be particular about is to find at least one cross-reference to something that I am referring to either as a fact or as a “quote”. This often means several hours of desperate attempts in Google/ Froggle/ Encyclopaedia Britannica and a host of websites that are far too numerous to mention.

Several times the search ends in frustration – either there is no cross-reference (the remarks appear to have been plucked out of thin air) or there is not enough evidence to reasonably establish something.

A recent example was this quote, commonly attributed to Lord Macaulay (but without being referred to by anyone else)

LORD MACAULAY’S MIS-QUOTED QUOTE?

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LORD MACAULAY’S ADDRESS TO THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, 2 FEBRUARY, 1835
“I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.”

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Is this the reality?

“In many instances where these statements are attributed to Macauley(sic), the “quotation” is preceded by: “His words were to this effect”. The source is often cited as “The Awakening Ray, Vol. 4 No. 5, The Gnostic Centre … Reproduced in Niti issue of April, 2002 at p. 10 – a periodic publication of Bharat Vikas Parishad, Delhi.” So it seems that this “quotation” is really a paraphrase (or a reading-between-the-lines) from “The Awakening Ray”, which has been repeated on various pages, sometimes without correct attribution.

Subject: Re: Speeches in British Parliament, 1835 From: ashishjog-ga on 27 Oct 2004 01:18 PDT

It is a general misconception that this is a part of Lord McCauley’s speech to British Parliament because Lord McCauley arrived in India on 10th June 1834 and returned to England in early 1838. If in 1835 he was in India then how could he have delivered a speech in the British Parliament. Let me also add that he arrived in India by a 3 month long journey by ship so there is no chance that the Lord made a quick visit to England …for delivering this speech.

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Another example of this was when I was desperately looking for some information on “Vimanas” – which have supposedly been referred to extensively in ancient texts – for one of my past articles. The only quote I could find was on one website but the cross referenced link did not work.

Lack of cross-references or reasonable evidence to support a comment/observation/ “fact” undermines our credibility and – in particular, becomes a ready excuse for not being taken seriously.

*** UPDATE ***

Please read this post: Clearing the dust off Macaulay’s “famous quote”