"I've gone out to find myself. Should I get back before I return,
please keep me here." -- or something like that.  Where did this quote
originate?

Most people put up some version of this without attribution. After
some searching, I've found it attributed to "Andrea Pusillo" and "John
Barr", but I can't find any more information about these people that
would help me confirm or deny the connection.  My friend swears he saw
it in a movie, c. 1985, read by someone off of a note.  It is also
said to be a famous t-shirt quote.  But surely it has an origin!

Help! I'm drowning in misinformation!

Though it's evolved over the decades, the quote seems to have
originated with none other than Mike Curtiz, the Hollywood director of
such classics as Casablanca, and White Christmas.  If not Curtiz, then
at least his secretary, as reported in the newspaper article from
1940:


http://www.esnips.com/doc/faa329b9-eff3-42d6-8888-a07c054a2bf7/back-before-i-return.jpg


Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you...


pafalafa-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by pafalafa-ga on 03 Jul 2006 08:21 PDT

Thanks so much for the nice rating and generous tip.

As for how I found it, the article comes from a newspaper archived in
a wonderful site called newspaperarchive.com.  This is a collection of
millions of newspaper pages going back to the 1700's.  It's a
subscription service, but searches can be done without subscribing (if
you want to see the newspaper page, though, then a subscription will
be needed).

This is a great resource, and one of several good tools for
researching history.  Check out:


http://web-owls.com/2006/05/13/and-a-few-more-history-research-resources/
?And a Few More History Research Resources


for some additional information.

Cheers,

paf

That's incredible.  Could this seriously be real?  I'm going to assume
it's real, so now I'm more curious about how someone could find a
snippet from 1940 than I was about the quote.
Thank you.

I've found many references to that great quote but nothing at all on
"Andrea Pusillo".

Now, I'm drowning too ...

If I am not rescued soon I shall hold you fully responsible.

Maybe bobby7-ga could search the Dark Web?

Question ID: 739886 refers.

Sounds like it's from one of the "Back to the Future" movies.
Maybe the professor left a note and Michael J. Fox read it aloud, and
that is what your friend remembers.

Cheers

No, it's definitely not from one of the back to the future movies.  I
know them well.  Thanks though.

Here's some stuff on Andrea ...

http://www.iowastatedaily.com/media/storage/paper818/news/2001/11/16/News/refugee.Camp.Calls.For.Peace-1066087.shtml?norewrite200606250442&sourcedomain=www.iowastatedaily.com

Maybe you've already gone out to look for her but she'll be here when you return.

That can't be the right Andrea.

Actually, I'm pretty sure it is:)