Who first said "If not us? Who?" and "If not now? When?"

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Request for Question Clarification by keystroke-ga on 24 Aug 2006 06:53 PDT

Does this answer your question?

http://www.mediaethiopia.com/Election2005/IfnotusWhom_ProfessorSolomonTerfa_Jan2006.htm

"The topic  If not now, When? If not Us, Who? is a rephrased version
of the ?moral philosopher? Hilel?s question who asked ? If not now,
When? If not you, Who??"

(His actual name is Hillel).

"Rabbi Hillel said, almost two thousand years ago: "If I am not for
myself, who will be? And if I am only for myself, what am I? If not
you, who? And if not now, when?""
http://freedomlaw.com/RJTavel.htm

--Keystroke-ga

Proper spelling of essay's is actually "essays". You don't ever need
an apostrophe to make a plural.

Though Rabbi Hillel is generally cited as the original source of that
quote, it may be worth realizing that it was more recently popularized
in the 1980s when Ronald Reagan used those words in relation to some
economic policies he was endorsing; consequently some sources cite
Reagan (not Hillel) as the origin of the quote.

Whether it was Reagan himself or his speechwriters who was familiar
with Rabbi Hillel's quotation is a whole other question, of course...