I never realized I was misquoting when from time to time I brought up the little snippet that Elisabeth Elliot talks about the necessity for Christians to live "a long obedience in the same direction." It's so . . . EE . . . a thing to say, bracing and insistent. She says it here, in pretty much the kind of context I think of when I think of it.
But I just discovered she didn't originate the idea.
Eugene Peterson wrote a book by that title, and a "search inside" at the Amazon site shows that he gives credit where it is due.
I'll give credit where it is due--here is where I discovered who originally said it:
“The essential thing “in heaven and earth” is…that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.” - Friedrich Nietzche, Beyond Good and Evil
Now I'm sure EE is just more educated than I and assumed that others knew the source and that she didn't need to give it, but from now on I'll be saying "Elisabeth Elliot and Nietzche agree . . ." Or maybe not.
