Quark wem Quark gebuehrt

[Rebing@t-online.de (Rebing)]

Just before John clamps down on the naughty boys treading all that Quark and 
providing fun galore to those of us who have put the List asleep during the past 
few months (:-) a pedantic philologist on the sidelines would like to point out 
that the getretene Quark saying is to be traced back to a more dignified source 
than the lowly Volksmund:
Getretner Quark
Wird breit, nicht stark. 
(Goethe, Westöstlicher Divan, Buch der Sprüche, c. 1814-1827)