I have not shown whether or not this is a quote from an ancient work.
I’ve shown that the quote, and its provenance has survived largely intact since the 1920s at least.
In particular, it has been traced far further back than Sir Isaac Asimov’s book (as suggested by others here).
However, I have shown it was not both Assyrian and from 2800 BC. It may have in Akkadian, a related language, from 2800 BC, but that is earlier than any references I found so I find it unlikely. It might have been Sumerian.
IMHO, given the dubious provenance of the source, a more likely scenario is that it is either a true quote, oddly translated, from a much later date, or invented in the early 20th Century.
There’s no doubt whatsoever that people thousands of years ago expressed these things, but yeah, it’s too bad we don’t have an actual surviving example.
Party pooper here - https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/4923/was-this-quote-on-a-clay-tablet-about-unruly-kids-written-by-an-assyrian
Quoting the answer from there:
Oh man if it is Akkadian and not Assyrian then it ruins the whole joke!
It was never over 🤯
We are so back 😎
it being over is over
There’s no doubt whatsoever that people thousands of years ago expressed these things, but yeah, it’s too bad we don’t have an actual surviving example.
Sounded fake as fuck to me, but I appreciate the hard data to back up my hypothesis.