which The Yale Book of Quotations attributes as the source for similar aphorisms sometimes attributed to others[3] (e.g. Annie's Mailbox attributes a version of the lyric to a combination of William Watson Purkey and Satchel Paige[4]). In 2004 in response to an inquiry by a group of librarians Richard Leigh stated
For some reason, people have a great deal of trouble attributing this lyric to its creators: Susanna Clark and Richard Leigh. The reason you can not find any printed or recorded support for these assertions dating back any earlier than our song, is because they don’t exist.... I think the folks out there must be unconsciously disappointed that something that cool came from such ordinary people, so they keep giving it the loftier authorship they believe it deserves.
^Mitchell, Kathy; Sugar, Marcy (April 25, 2006). "Annie's Mailbox, April 25". Annie's Mailbox. Creators Syndicate. Archived from the original on 2009-10-20. Retrieved March 3, 2010. William Watson Purkey is credited with writing, "Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt. Sing like nobody's listening; live like it's heaven on earth." Later, the phrase "Work like you don't need the money" was added, often credited to baseball great Satchel Paige. This poem obviously speaks to a lot of people, because over the years, many others have created their own additions. We think the sentiments are life-affirming.
