quote · Legacy record
For Americans, Acts 16:9 is the high-fructose corn syrup of Bible verses--an all-purpose ingredient we'll stir into everything from the ink on the Marshall Plan to canisters of Agent Orange. Our greatest goodness and our worst impulses come out of this missionary zeal, contributing to our overbearing (yet not entirely unwarranted) sense of our country as an inherently helpful force in the world. And, as with the apostle Paul, the notion that strangers want our help is sometimes a delusion.
For Americans, Acts 16:9 is the high-fructose corn syrup of Bible verses--an all-purpose ingredient we'll stir into everything from the ink on the Marshall Plan to canisters of Agent Orange. Our greatest goodness and our worst impulses come out of this missionary zeal, contributing to our overbearing (yet not entirely unwarranted) sense of our country as an inherently helpful force in the world. And, as with the apostle Paul, the notion that strangers want our help is sometimes a delusion.
Approximate author period: c. 1987 AD · modern
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- Author or tradition
- Sarah Vowell
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1987 AD · modern
Approximate author-period evidence for Sarah Vowell: documented activity in 1987. Wikidata Q452147, inspected 2026-10-08. Not a quotation composition date or independent verification of attribution. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q452147 (accessed 2026-10-08).
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 104154; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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