Someone Else’s Quip

“ . . . we dispel the false notion that Christians are nauseatingly self-righteous people who are worried that someone somewhere might be having fun.” – Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church

This is plainly based on H. L. Menken’s definition of puritanism: “The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” Dever replaces Mencken’s words with synonymous ideas, but the essence of the quip clearly originates from Mencken. Should Dever be expected to cite this sort of thing?

I’m only asking because of the recent controversy surrounding accusations that Mark Driscoll plagiarized some material in one of his books, which lead some others to write thoughtful pieces about what plagiarism actually is, and what it is not. In any case, I wonder if those who vehemently criticize Driscoll’s alleged plagiarism would also be willing to criticize Dever with equal enthusiasm for using the essence of someone else’s quip without giving any credit or citation.