Quote Investigator® – Tracing Quotations

Quote Origin: Gambling Is a Sure Way of Getting Nothing for Something

Wilson Mizner? Reverend T. L. Eliot? Charles G. Reinhart? Punch? Walter Winchell? Earl Wilson? Anonymous?

**Picture of five rolling dice from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: Wishful thinkers are attracted to the dream of obtaining something for nothing. Too often schemes of enrichment are based on betting; however, a wise cynic has said:

Gambling is a sure way of getting nothing from something.

This statement has been attributed to U.S. playwright and raconteur Wilson Mizner, but I have not seen a solid citation. Would you please explore the provenance of this remark?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI believes that this quip evolved over many years, and the creator remains anonymous. Yet some evidence is presented further below suggesting that Wilson Mizner used this joke.

In 1878 Reverend T. L. Eliot delivered a lecture in the Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon about the dangers of gambling. The “Morning Oregonian” newspaper published Eliot’s earnest admonition. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Winner has got something for nothing, and wants more by the very law of his being. Loser has got nothing for something, and wants something back. One has the fever of unworked for gain, the other has the fever of a violated sense of absolute justice. … The inflamed state of mind in winner and loser are legitimate consequences: loser is driven to recover, winner is intoxicated to pursue.

In 1882 “The Omaha Daily Bee” of Omaha, Nebraska published an article with an unspecified author which discussed betting. The key elements of the quip existed in the following excerpt:²

… use caution in betting on other folk’s games, or investing in schemes which promise to give something for nothing, as they generally wind up by giving nothing for something.

In 1892 the “Grand Rapids Herald” of Grand Rapids, Michigan printed an anonymous filler item which contained a version of the joke tailored to slot machines:³

Among the latest devices for getting nothing for something, the nickel-in-the-slot machine stands close to the head of its class.

In 1895 “The Flaming Sword” of Chicago, Illinois presented a general principle describing transactions:⁴

For every one who gets something for nothing, some other man gets nothing for something. — New Earth.

In 1926 Charles G. Reinhart published a piece about Monte Carlo which included a wordy version of the joke:⁵

Sir Basil, it is said, never enters the gambling Casino. This is only natural. With all his experience he probably realizes what most of the habitues have yet to learn—that gambling, at Monte Carlo or elsewhere, is less a method of getting your money for nothing than a method of getting nothing for your money.

In March 1927 the London humor magazine “Punch” published an anonymous lengthy version of the joke:⁶

A contemporary describes betting as a means of getting something for nothing. Experience teaches us that it is usually a method of getting nothing for something.

“Punch” was an influential magazine, and other periodicals reprinted the joke. For example, in April 1927 “Life” of New York reprinted the joke while acknowledging “Punch”.⁷

In 1929 “Wise Cracks: Wit, Wisdom and Fun Suitable for Use on All Occasions” compiled by C. O. Frederick printed the same joke while crediting “Punch”.⁸

In February 1947 the popular syndicated gossip columnist Walter Winchell attributed a lengthy version of the joke to Wilson Mizner:⁹

The gambling scandals which have hogged the headlines recall Wilson Mizner’s snapper: “Some people think that betting is a means of getting something for nothing. Experience teaches us that it is usually a method of getting nothing for something.”

Wilson Mizner was born in 1876, and he died in 1933. Hence, the attribution from Winchell was rather late. In January 1948 Winchell credited Mizner with a different phrasing for the joke:¹⁰

A horse player was giving Wilson Mizner counsel on gambling. “I think.” he said, “that most people can’t resist the temptation to bet because it is a way of getting something for nothing.” “If you gamble long enough,” Mizner rejoined, “you will discover that it is a way of getting nothing for something.”

In April 1948 the “Reader’s Digest” credited Mizner with a compact version of the quip while acknowledging Winchell:¹¹

Deft definitions: Bigamist — one who loves not wisely but two well . . . Alcohol — an excellent liquid for preserving almost anything but secrets . . . Gambling — a way of getting nothing for something (Wilson Mizner, quoted by Walter Winchell)

In 1951 Walter Winchell revisited the topic and credited Mizner with a condensed version of the quip:¹²

THE GAME COCK proprietor sends a Wilson Mizner comment on gambling. When he was told “most people dislike gambling,” Mizner edited: “The people who dislike it are those who lose.”

He also described gambling as “a way of getting nothing for something.”

In 1953 “Crackers in Bed: The Book of Jokes, Gags, and Funny Stories” compiled by Vic Fredericks credited Mizner with a version using the word “sure”:¹³

Gambling, Wilson Mizner summed it up, is the one sure way of getting nothing for something.

In 1964 the widely syndicated columnist Earl Wilson published the following:¹⁴

REMEMBERED QUOTE — “Gambling is a sure way of getting nothing for something.” — Wilson Mizner.

In 1968 Evan Esar included an equine variant in his collection titled “20,000 Quips and Quotes”:¹⁵

Betting on the horses is getting nothing for something.

In 1999 a newspaper in Reno, Nevada printed a version using the word “from” instead of “for”:¹⁶

Gambling thought of the week
“Gambling: The sure way of getting nothing from something.” — Wilson Mizner

In 2012 Robert Byrne published the compilation “The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said” which contained the following item:¹⁷

Gambling is getting nothing for something.
—Wilson Mizner (1876-1933)

In conclusion, tracing this joke is difficult because it can be expressed in numerous ways. QI believes that the quip evolved over many years, and it should not be credited to a single person. The anonymous instance in “Punch” is a wordier version of the modern compact quip. Walter Winchell repeatedly credited Wilson Mizner with the joke beginning in 1947, but Mizner died in 1933, so this evidence was not ironclad.

Image Notes: Picture of five rolling dice from Robert Stump at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.

Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Mardy Grothe whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Grothe presents a cornucopia of quotations on his website “Dr. Mardy’s Dictionary of Metaphorical Quotations”.

1878 March 30, Morning Oregonian, Gambling: A Discourse in the Unitarian Church, Portland, March 10, 1878, by Rev. T. L. Eliot, Quote Page 5, Column 4, Portland, Oregon. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
1882 September 18, The Omaha Daily Bee, Picker Up by Peelers, Quote Page 6, Column 4, Omaha, Nebraska. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
1892 July 26, Grand Rapids Herald, (Filler item), Quote Page 4, Column 2, Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
1895 November, The Flaming Sword, Volume 9, Number 2, Sharp Cuts, Quote Page 238, Chicago, Illinois. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
1926 May 9, The Birmingham Age-Herald, To End Scandals of Monte Carlo “Blow the Casino Into the Sea,” Demand the Monacoans by Charles G. Reinhart, Sunday Magazine Section, Quote Page 3, Column 6, Birmingham, Alabama. (ProQuest) ↩︎
1927 March 2, Punch, or the London Charivari, Charivaria, Quote Page 225, Published at the Punch Office, London, England. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
1927 April 7, Life, Volume 89, Number 2318, Our Foolish Contemporaries: “Aut Scissors aut Nullus”, Quote Page 38, Column 1, Life Publishing Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
1929 (1930 Reprint), Wise Cracks: Wit, Wisdom and Fun Suitable for Use on All Occasions, Selected by C.O. Frederick and E.E. Frederick, Topic: Gambling, Quote Page 148, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
1947 February 7, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Walter Winchell (syndicated), Quote Page 19, Column 3, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
1948 January 14, Newark Star-Ledger, Walter Winchell On Broadway, Quote Page 21, Column 1, Newark, New Jersey. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
1948 April, Reader’s Digest, Volume 52, Number 312, Spiced Tongue, Quote Page 128, The Reader’s Digest Association, Pleasantville, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
1951 November 29, Syracuse Herald-Journal, Walter Winchell, Quote Page 59, Column 6, Syracuse, New York. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
1953 Copyright, Crackers in Bed: The Book of Jokes, Gags, and Funny Stories compiled by Vic Fredericks, Chapter: Safecrackers, Quote Page 46, Frederick Fell Inc., New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
1964 September 8, The Honolulu Advertiser, Beatle’s Fab Sound from Dixie by Earl Wilson, Quote Page B4, Column 6, Honolulu, Hawaii. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
1968, 20,000 Quips and Quotes compiled by Evan Esar, Subject: Horse Race, Quote Page 395, Doubleday, Garden City, New York. (Verified on paper) ↩︎
1999 July 22, Reno Gazette-Journal, Section: BestBets, Strike when they ask by Mark Pilarski, Quote Page 24, Column 5, Reno, Nevada. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
2012, The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said, Compiled by Robert Byrne, Quote Number 2001, Touchstone: A Division of Simon & Schuster, New York. (Verified on paper) ↩︎

Quote Origin: Power Is the Ultimate Aphrodisiac

Napoleon Bonaparte? Henry Kissinger? Christine Sutherland? Constant Louis Wairy? Graham Greene? William Styron? John Corry? Art Buchwald? Anonymous?

**Picture of candy hearts from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: The quest to achieve power is exhilarating and seductive. Also, an individual who has acquired great power becomes remarkably attractive. These two different observations can be expressed with the following sayings:

(1) Power is the greatest of all aphrodisiacs
(2) Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac
(3) Power is one hell of an aphrodisiac

The following three sayings are thematically related:

(A) Fame is a potent aphrodisiac
(B) Class is a potent aphrodisiac
(C) Recognition has always been the ultimate aphrodisiac

The first saying has been attributed to French leader Napoleon Bonaparte, and the second saying has been attributed to U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger. I am skeptical of these ascriptions. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has not yet found substantive evidence ascribing this saying to Napoleon Bonaparte who died in 1821. Kissinger received credit in January 1971 for the saying about power, but it was already in circulation.

This topic is complex, and this article presents a snapshot of current research. Currently, QI believes that journalist John Corry deserves credit for the adage depicting power as an aphrodisiac in July 1970.

Below is an overview with dates and attributions:

1854 Thematic: Ma maîtresse, c’est le pouvoir [My mistress is power] (Attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte by Pierre-Louis Roederer)

1960: Fame is a potent aphrodisiac (Graham Greene)

1966 Dec: Fame is a potent aphrodisiac (John Gunther)

1969 Apr: Class is a potent aphrodisiac (William Styron)

1970 Jul: Power … being one hell of an aphrodisiac (John Corry)

1970 Jul 16: Power acts as an aphrodisiac (Attributed to John Corry by Art Buchwald in paraphrased form)

1971 Jan 19: Power is the great aphrodisiac (Attributed to Henry Kissinger by journalist Hedrick Smith)

1972 Feb 04: Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac (Attributed to Henry Kissinger by Peter G. Peterson according to journalist Betty Beale)

1978: Power is an aphrodisiac (Attributed to an anonymous politician)

1979: Power … is the greatest of all aphrodisiacs (Attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte by Christine Sutherland)

1979 Nov: Recognition has always been the ultimate aphrodisiac (Michael Coakley)

1999: Power … is the greatest of all aphrodisiacs (Attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte by Constant Louis Wairy according to Random House Webster’s Quotationary)

Below are details for selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: A Play is Fiction — and Fiction Is Fact Distorted into Truth

Edward Albee? Jessamyn West? Pablo Picasso? Anonymous?

**Fisheye lens picture of Canary Wharf from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: A gifted creator of fiction deliberately contorts the truth. Crucial aspects of reality are exaggerated while other aspects are minimized. Yet the aim is to convey deeper truths. An influential artist said:

Fiction is fact distorted into truth.

This statement has been attributed to the U.S. dramatist Edward Albee who wrote “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, “The Zoo Story”, and “Three Tall Women”. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In September 1966 Edward Albee was interviewed by a journalist in “The New York Times”. The piece began with a compelling remark from Albee. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

“A play is fiction—and fiction is fact distorted into truth.”

Edward Albee smiled his iced-acid public smile as he said it. Hunched over his lime-spiked Coke, he politely submitted to questions about whether his plays are autobiographical, answering with the needle-point precision of one who edits as instinctively as he draws the breath to speak.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Fiction Reveals Truths That Reality Obscures

Jessamyn West? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Pablo Picasso? Edward Albee? Anonymous?

**Depiction of a portal between fiction and reality from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: Eloquent fiction depicts a heightened form of reality and presents a deeper version of the truth. The U.S. writer Jessamyn West has received credit for the following remark:

Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.

This statement has also been credited to U.S. transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Would you please find a solid citation to resolve this discrepancy?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1957 Jessamyn West published the memoir “To See the Dream”. She discussed the headaches she experienced and the typical depiction of headaches in fiction. She concluded that the fictional portrayal provided insights. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures—so the headachey female of the novel may be a truer picture than I, still aching a little, can ever paint.

Ralph Waldo Emerson died in 1882. QI has found no substantive evidence that he employed this expression. Emerson received credit by 2006.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Proverb Origin: There Is a Special Providence That Protects Fools, Drunkards, and the United States

Otto von Bismarck? Abbé Correa? José Correia da Serra? French Proverb? Jean Gracieux? Marguerite de Valois? Wilhelm II? Gulian Crommelin Verplanck? Josiah Strong? Sherwood Anderson?

Question for Quote Investigator: A family of sayings asserts that specific groups benefit from supernatural protection. Here are three examples:

(1) There is a special providence for fools, children, and the U.S.
(2) God always helps fools, lovers, and drunkards
(3) Luck attends babes, fools, and drunkards.

Instances of this saying have been attributed to German statesman Otto von Bismarck and Portuguese polymath José Francisco Correia da Serra. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: This family has been evolving for hundreds of years; hence, it is a complex topic. An anonymous French instance appeared in a story by Marguerite de Valois in 1559. The United States was mentioned in an 1849 version attributed to Abbé Correa, i.e., José Correia da Serra. But he died in 1823, so this evidence was weak. Otto von Bismarck implausibly received credit for a version in 1907. Bismarck died in 1898.

Below is an overview with dates and attributions.

1559: Dieu ayde tousjours aux folz, aux amoureux et aux yvroignes
God always helps fools, lovers, and drunkards
(Attributed to Anonymous by Marguerite de Valois)

1618: Dieu ayde tousjours aux fols et aux yvrognes
God always looks after fools and drunkards
(French proverb according to Jean Gracieux)

1690: Dieu aide à trois sortes de personnes, aux fous, aux enfants, & aux yvrognes
God looks after three types of people: fools, children, and drunkards
(French proverb according to Dictionaire Universel)

1708: Dieu aide toûjours aux fous, aux amoureux, & aux ivrognes
God always helps fools, lovers, and drunkards
(Attributed to Anonymous by Marguerite de Valois)

1830: Peculiar Providence which always watches over fools and drunkards
(French proverb according to Gulian Crommelin Verplanck)

1849: The special providence over the United States and little children
(Attributed to Abbé Correa by Francis Wharton)

1869 Nov: Heaven takes care of fools and drunkards
(Proverb according to Dinah Maria Craik)

1876: The special providence over the United States and little children
(Attributed to Abbé Correa)

1879 Aug: Special Providence for children and for the United States of America
(Attributed to Abbé Correa in The New York Times)

1886: God always has a care for fools, lovers, and drunken folk
(Attributed to Anonymous by Marguerite de Valois)

1892: God takes care of idiots and of drunkards
(Proverb according to William S. Walsh)

1896: Providence takes care of idiots, drunkards, and the United States
(Attributed to Abbé Correa by Maud Wilder Goodwin)

1896 Mar: The Lord takes care of idiots, children, and the United States
(Attributed to Josiah Strong by Laura Potter Gregory)

1907: God always looks after the fools and — and the United States
(Attributed to Otto von Bismarck by Herbert H. Sargent)

1918 Oct: Luck that is said to attend babes, fools and drunkards
(Anonymous)

1923 Mar: God is good to fools and drunkards
(Sherwood Anderson)

1967 Nov: God watches over fools, drunkards and organized baseball
(Jim Murray)

1972 Aug: God looks after fools, drunkards and the United States of America
(Attributed to Kaiser Wilhelm II)

2015: God looks after fools, drunkards and the United States of America
(Attributed to Otto von Bismarck by Paul Greenberg)

Below are details for selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: If There Is No Struggle There Is No Progress

Frederick Douglass? J. H. Robinson? Joseph Stolz? Hortense Beck Hinton? George Hastings McNair? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Every advancement for humankind has faced opposition. One must work hard to achieve improvements. A famous activist wrote the following:

If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.

These words have been attributed to U.S. social reformer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In August 1857 Frederick Douglass delivered a speech commemorating the abolition of slavery in the British West Indies. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims, have been born of earnest struggle. The conflict has been exciting, agitating, all-absorbing, and for the time being, putting all other tumults to silence. It must do this or it does nothing.

If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.

This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: False Facts Are Highly Injurious to the Progress of Science, for They Often Long Endure

Charles Darwin? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Incorrect scientific hypotheses may temporarily mislead fellow scientists, but the research inspired by flawed conjectures enables further progress, and superior theories emerge over time. Faulty experimental data is more dangerous because it may persist without challenge. Here is a pertinent remark:

False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often long endure; but false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm, as everyone takes a salutary pleasure in proving their falseness.

This statement has been credited to English naturalist Charles Darwin. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1871 Charles Darwin published “The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex”. Chapter 21 contained the following passage. Boldface added to excepts by QI:¹

False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often long endure; but false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm, as every one takes a salutary pleasure in proving their falseness; and when this is done, one path towards error is closed and the road to truth is often at the same time opened.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Courage Is Not Having the Strength To Go On; It Is Going On When You Don’t Have the Strength

Theodore Roosevelt? Napoleon Bonaparte? Karen Grant? Ken Harris? George Grant? Karen Grant? Apocryphal?

**Illustration of a rock climber from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent leader has received credit for a definition of courage using chiasmus which emphasizes tenacity:

Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength.

These words have been attributed to U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and to French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte. I am skeptical because I have not seen a solid citation. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest close match found by QI appeared in an eleven-line poem titled “Courage” by Ken Harris published in the “Springfield Daily News” of Springfield, Ohio in 1972. These were the first four lines. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

COURAGE isn’t having the strength to go on—
It’s going on when you haven’t got the strength.

COURAGE isn’t confidence that comes from being aware of all that’s happening—
It’s walking through a dark woods when you don’t know what’s ahead.

Theodore Roosevelt died in 1919. The earliest attribution to him found by QI appeared in the 1997 book “Letters Home: Advice from the Wisest Men and Women of the Ages to Their Friends and Loved Ones” edited by George Grant and Karen Grant:²

Theodore Roosevelt to His Daughter Alice …
Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength. Industry and determination can do anything that genius and advantage can do and many things that they cannot.

The authors provided a citation note at the end of the book to support the quotation:

Theodore Roosevelt, The Complete Works, vol. XIX, (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1926), p. 331

QI accessed this 1926 volume and determined that page 331 occurred in a section titled “The Great Adventure”. QI did not find the quotation on page 331. The volume also contained a section titled “Letters to His Children”. Unfortunately, QI did not find the quotation in this section or anywhere within the volume.³

QI also accessed the 1919 book “Theodore Roosevelt’s Letters to His Children” which is listed in the bibliography of the 1926 volume. QI did not find the quotation in this 1919 book.⁴

Based on these search efforts QI is unable to support the attribution of the quotation to Theodore Roosevelt at this time.

A skeptical stance was also taken by the “Theodore Roosevelt Center” of Dickinson State University which posted an article about the saying:⁵

“Courage is not having the strength to go on; but going on when you don’t have the strength.”

This quote is frequently attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, but it is not to be found in any of his writings, public or private. It is also not found in the writings of those who knew and quoted him. It appears to have been first attributed to him in the late 1990s, with growing popularity throughout the 2000s and 2010s.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: An Oxford Man Looks as If the World Belongs to Him; a Cambridge Man Looks as If He Does Not Care to Whom the World Belongs

Mandell Creighton? James Payn? Helen Ricker Beebe? William Ralph Inge? Jack Hulbert? Anonymous?

**Gothic style building at University of Cambridge**

Question for Quote Investigator: Oxford and Cambridge rank among Europe’s oldest and most prestigious centers of higher learning. An oft-repeated comical statement contrasts the attitudes of the students of the two schools:

Oxford people think they own the world. Cambridge people do not care who owns the world.

This ambiguous saying has divergent interpretations. One explication highlights student stereotypes. The Oxford person is a confident, natural, and entitled leader. The Cambridge person is a detached academic individual who is unconcerned with managing world affairs. Would you please explore the provenance of this saying?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI conjectures that this saying evolved from remarks made by English editor James Payn in “Chambers’s Journal” in 1862. Payn described the annual Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race held on a stretch of the Thames in West London. Interestingly, the two groups Payn contrasted differed from the modern saying.

The first group was the young gentlemen of London who looked as though they were the “proprietors of the universe”. The second group was the combined students of Oxford and Cambridge, i.e., the “dark and light blue” based on each school’s traditional colors. This combined student group looked as though they did not care to whom the universe belonged.

In the following excerpt, “the town” referred to London, and the pronoun “them” referred to the students of both Oxford and Cambridge. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

There is also a charming independence about them, contrasting curiously with the assumed indifference of the young gentlemen of the town. The latter present the appearance, more or less complete, of being the proprietors of the universe; but ‘this pride is yet no match for theirs’ of the Dark and Light Blue, who look as though they did not care to whom it belonged.

They do not as yet perceive the necessity of assuming a superior position with respect to others; the world is a solid pudding to them (with plenty of plums in it), and mere wafer-biscuits and trifle-froth have no attractions for them. They do not understand that to look weary and ill-tempered is to convey the idea of fashionable beings worn out with the attentions of the aristocracy; and that to take an interest in anything is bad taste. On the contrary, Dark and Light Blue take very great interest in everything, and about this University Boat-race they do more—they are wild enthusiasts.

The piece in “Chambers’s Journal” did not have a byline identifying the author. But the article was reprinted in 1867 within the collection “Lights and Shadows of London Life” authored by James Payn.²

A close match for the modern version of the saying appeared in a speech delivered at Oxford by Reverend Mandell Creighton on June 17, 1896. Creighton was the Bishop of Peterborough who later became the Bishop of London. Creighton disclaimed authorship and implied that the saying was a preexisting epigram:³

That great question—the difference between an Oxford man and a Cambridge man—was once solved by the epigram: ‘An Oxford man looks as if the world belongs to him: a Cambridge man looks as if he did not care to whom the world belongs.’

I am not concerned with the truth of that saying in itself, but it undoubtedly describes two temperaments, which differ and annoy one another by a sense of difference. I think, however, that we must admit that the man who does not care to whom the world belongs is extremely annoying to the man who maintains that the world belongs to him.

Below is an overview with dates and attributions:

1862: Young gentlemen of London: Appearance of being the proprietors of the universe. Oxford and Cambridge students: Look as though they did not care to whom it belonged
(James Payn)

1896 Jun 17: An Oxford man looks as if the world belongs to him: a Cambridge man looks as if he did not care to whom the world belongs
(Anonymous attribution from Mandell Creighton)

1896 Jun 18: An Oxford man looks as if the world belonged to him; a Cambridge man looks as if he did not care to whom the world belonged
(Anonymous attribution from Mandell Creighton)

1899: The Oxford man who looks as if the world belongs to him, the Cambridge man who looks as if he did not care to whom the world belongs
(Mandell Creighton)

1917: The Oxford man acts as if all the world belongs to him; the Cambridge man as if he belonged to all the world
(Anonymous attribution from George Edwin Maclean)

1922: The Oxford man — He looks as if the world belonged to him. The Cambridge man — He looks as if he did not care to whom the world belonged
(William Ralph Inge)

1929: Oxford man wears a gown as if it belonged to him, and a Cambridge man wears it as if he didn’t care who it belonged to
(Jack Hulbert)

1936: An Oxford man goes about looking as though the world belongs to him — a Cambridge man as though he doesn’t care to whom it belongs
(Alfred Walter Frank Blunt)

1940: An Oxford man walks as though he owned the earth; and a Cambridge man walks as though he didn’t care who owned it
(Anonymous attribution from Helen Ricker Beebe)

1970: An Oxford man acts as if he owns the place; a Cambridge man doesn’t care who owns it and acts accordingly
(Anonymous attribution from Ralph Bossence)

1972: Oxford men think they rule the world and Cambridge men don’t care a cent who does
(Attributed to Mandell Creighton)

1984: Oxford men think the world belongs to them. Cambridge men don’t care who it belongs to
(Anonymous attribution from Stephen Toulmin)

Below are details for selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Everybody Talks; Nobody Listens. Good Listeners Are as Rare as White Crows

Helen Keller? Ellen Bilofsky? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Being an attentive listener is crucial to developing successful relationships. Yet, few people are willing to provide this courtesy. The activist and lecturer Helen Keller has received credit for the following remark:

Everybody talks, nobody listens. Good listeners are as rare as white crows.

I have not been able to find a solid citation. Would you please help?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In May 1935 Helen Keller published an article titled “The Beauty of Silence” in “The Home Magazine” of Chicago, Illinois. Keller discussed her perception of sound via vibrations. She emphasized the importance of reducing noise and listening to one another. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Everybody talks, nobody listens. Good listeners are as rare as white crows. No sooner does one set out to expound a theory or explain a situation than someone breaks in with “That’s all nonsense! Such ideas will never be taken seriously in America.” How can a fruitful conversation spring from such an attitude?

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.