Quotations and Literature Forum

I'm trying to find origins of the quote: "I know that you believe that you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure that you realize that what you heard is not what I meant." I have seen it attributed to former U.S. Ambassador Robert MCCloskey. Any further info greatly appreciated.

Wow, this one's familiar -- I'm sure I've seen it here before, but maybe on the "old" forum. Anyone remember?

I frankly am very surprised to see this attributed to anybody at all.
I personally do not believe any of them.
It's in mgm's (this website right here) collection at
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Robert_McCloskey/

Also found attributed thusly:
I know you believe you understand what it is you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what I said is not what I meant.
~President Richard M. Nixon to the International Press Corps
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~chalufu/test.html
"I know you believe you understand what you think I said. But I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant."
~ Alan Greenspan
http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/viewpt/20010201e.htm

I know you think you understand what I said, but what you heard is not what I meant.
http://www.juggling.org/~kparsons@nlnet ... klers.html

The Word Game:
“Now you think you understand what I said, but do you realize that what you think you heard me say is not what I meant?"

Another version:
"I believe that you think you understand what I said, but I fear, that you don´t realize, that what I say is not always what I really mean"

Hmmm. Here's a more detailed attribution from someone's site:


I still have my doubts. This one's all over the Web and I'm not sure where it came from. (Not my fault this time, it was only recently added here.)

BTW, I checked the old forum - nothing there.

_________________
Michael Moncur
Owner and maintainer, The Quotations Page

Thanks for the help with this one. I've seen it around for years and have used it often when doing training on communication skills. The McCloskey attribution seems plausible - it sounds like something a State Department spokesman could say when put on the spot during a press briefing.
An apt response might be John Weakland's: "'The meaning of any communication is the response that it gets."