"Go to school. Learn a little. Live dangerously." Where?

October 10, 2018 12:03 PM

I recall seeing a movie poster in the 1980s that quoted Alexander Pope's line from An Essay on Criticism, "A little learning is a dangerous thing," and then followed it up with a catchphrase or slogan: "Go to school. Learn a little. Live dangerously!" Can anyone confirm this and point me toward the movie?

My Google-Fu has failed me on this one. It may well have an older movie. Possibly I'm confabulating it. I seem to recall that it starred Peter Sellers, but I don't see anything in his oeuvre that seems to fit.

posted by brianogilvie to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

Best answer: From my Googling around, it looks like this may have been 1966's Lord Love a Duck. I can't find that particular poster, but several sources cite those lines as appearing on the initial title card.
posted by northernish at 1:17 PM on October 10, 2018

Best answer: northernish has it:

Opening motto:

A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing:
Go to School
Get Knowledge
Live Dangerously

Looks like it was originally from Al Hine's 1961 novel, Lord Love a Duck.
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:30 PM on October 10, 2018

Best answer: And a screenshot.
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:37 PM on October 10, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks to both of you! I was being too specific, and forgetting that the Pope line is often misquoted.
posted by brianogilvie at 2:17 PM on October 10, 2018