John Buchan? Elizabeth Murray? Graham Greene? Dorothy Parker? Thomas Carter? H. L. Mencken? Sime Silverman? Karl Braun? Gene Byrnes? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: When you face a series of obstacles and successfully persevere you might employ the following saying. Here are three versions:
It’s a great life if you don’t weaken.
It’s a grand life if you don’t weaken.
It’s a joyful life if you don’t weaken.
Over time the meaning has shifted, and it has become ironic. The Scottish novelist and politician John Buchan often receives credit for this remark. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: John Buchan did use the expression in a 1919 novel. Details are given further below. But Buchan was not the originator.
The earliest match located by QI appeared in 1908 within an article published in “The Evening Telegram” of Salt Lake City, Utah. Police picked up a man who was acting like a hobo in Provo, Utah. He revealed to the officers that he was a wealthy individual named Thomas Carter, and he told them to contact his banker in Salt Lake City to verify his identity. In the following passage the word “jungle” is slang for a hobo encampment. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
“You see,” he said, “this jungle life is a grand one if you don’t weaken. Talk about experience, why when I get back to the folks I will have had enough experience to fill a molasses barrel. When I get home I will sure have a bigger heart for these fellows you officers term tramps.”
A journalist heard this odd tale and asked Carter about his motivation:
“Well, I’ll tell you I am just paying an election bet. I bet that “Uncle Joe” Cannon would not be re-elected to the house and now I must make good as a hobo for sixty days or forfeit $5000. It’s a grand life if you don’t weaken.”
QI tentatively credits Thomas Carter with the saying although there is a substantial probability that the phrase was already in circulation, and future researchers may learn more.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Sime Silverman was the founder of show business periodical “Variety”, and he shared his opinions in its pages. In August 1913 he evaluated a singer with a question mark in her name called “Marguerite?”. He suggested that she should continue to include comedy in her act:2
Marguerite? will probably go along and work into a nice comedy “nut” turn. She ought to, not forgetting it’s a great life, Margy, if you don’t weaken.
In March 1914 “The Boston Sunday Globe” of Massachusetts published a short piece about a group who were travelling and lost their dogs. When traveler Karl Braun lost a little yellow mut he employed the saying:3
When he passes out in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Braun was heard to remark, sorrowfully “It’s a great life if you don’t weaken.”
In June 1914 “The Bourbon News” of Paris, Kentucky printed a piece about a local youth who had travelled to New York and experienced the Broadway nightlife:4
“This is the story of a merry young blade who came out of the West and went back again, Though a youth, he was a philosopher. There was the wisdom of ages in the remark which was his favorite while he swam in the tide of Broadway’s gaieties. ‘This is the life,’ he said; ‘this is the life—if you don’t weaken.’”
In July 1914 “The Chicago Sunday Tribune,” published a piece about comic singer Elizabeth Murray who had appeared in a show called “High Jinks” the previous season. She employed the saying during the show:5
She laid stress upon the statement that she interpolated what she said was the best “laughing line” in the libretto—“It’s a great life if you don’t weaken!”
In December 1914 a newspaper in Grand Forks, North Dakota printed an instance with the word “gay” meaning joyous, happy, and lively:6
It’s a gay life, if you don’t weaken!
Also, in December 1914 a newspaper in Rock Island, Illinois attributed the saying to Murray:7
It was Elizabeth Murray, the actress, we believe, who said: “It’s a great life if you don’t weaken.”
Between 1915 and 1919 Gene Byrnes published a comic strip called “It’s a Great Life If You Don’t Weaken”. The following panel from February 1917 shows a man who has vowed to stop drinking alcohol deciding whether to break his vow.8
In July 1917 sports writer Jack Veiock employed an instance:9
It’s a gay, joyful life, if you don’t weaken.
In 1918 a newspaper in Elmira, New York published a letter from enlisted soldier Jack C. Irvine who presented humorous complaints and used the saying ironically:10
Oh yes it’s a grand life if you don’t weaken.
In 1919 John Buchan published the novel “Mr. Standfast”. The main character described an arduous walk that he planned to commence soon, and his companion asked what he planned to do afterwards:11
“And after that, Mr. Brand?”
“Back to Glasgow to do some work for the cause,” I said lightly.
“Just so,” he said, with a grin. “It’s a great life if you don’t weaken.”
In February 1921 the well-known wit Dorothy Parker published the poem “Invictus” in the humor magazine “Life”. She included the following two lines:12
“Oh, it’s a great life,” I loudly claim—
“If you don’t weaken,” I amend;
Also, in 1921 language maven H. L. Mencken published the revised edition of “The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States”, and he mentioned the saying:13
The war, as we have seen in the chapter on Slang, produced very little new slang, but the doughboys showed all the national talent for manufacturing proverbs and proverbial expressions, chiefly derisive …
Perhaps the favorite in the army was “It’s a great life if you don’t weaken,” though “They say the first hundred years are the hardest” offered it active rivalry.
In 1935 Graham Greene published “The Basement Room and Other Stories”. The title story was reprinted in the 1949 collection “Nineteen Stories”. The butler character Mr. Baines told imaginary tales about his adventures in Africa, and he used an instance with the word “good”:14
Baines said, “just as if I was still in Africa. Most days you don’t notice what you’ve got. It’s a good life if you don’t weaken.”
The saying was common enough that it was used in wordplay. For example, in 1943 “Esar’s Comic Dictionary” included these two items:15
AUTO ACCIDENTS. Most auto accidents occur on Saturday and Sunday; it’s a great life if you don’t weekend.
WHISKEY. A great drink if you don’t weaken—it.
In 1944 “A Treasury of American Folklore” printed a collection of Knock-Knock jokes including the following three items in which “Cigarette” becomes “It’s a great”, “Domino” becomes “Don’t mean a”, and “Fletcher” becomes “Let your”:16
Cigarette. Cigarette who? Cigarette life if ya don’t weaken.
Domino. Domino who? Domino thing if ya ain’t got that swing.
Fletcher. Fletcher who? Fletcher self go—relax an’ fletcher self go.
In 1973 humorist Sam Levenson published “In One Era and Out the Other”. He included a wordplay variant:17
We need nightly pill buttons to unwind us. We say we want to sleep. I’m not sure it is not amnesia we’re after. Swallow an “Off” button and drop off. It’s a great life if you don’t waken.
In 1979 “1,001 Logical Laws” compiled by John Peers contained this variant:18
Ziegler’s Observation:
It’s a great life, if you weaken early enough to enjoy it.
In conclusion, QI tentatively credits the saying to Thomas Carter who said, “It’s a grand life if you don’t weaken” in Provo Utah in 1908. Well-known figures such as Dorothy Parker, Graham Greene, H. L. Mencken, and John Buchan used the expression after it was already in circulation.
Image Notes: Illustration of a breaking chain from Clker-Free-Vector-Images at Pixabay. Image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Sara O’Leary who told QI about a twitter thread on this topic which led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Twitter discussants included Nick Arvin and Howard Mittelmark. Further thanks to T.J. Elliott whose email inquiry also inspired this exploration. Also, thanks to the authors of “The New Yale Book of Quotations” and “The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs” which contained valuable citations.
Update History: On September 30, 2024 the format of the bibliographical notes was updated.
- 1908 November 19, The Salt Lake Evening Telegram, Provo Tramp Turns Out To Be Wealthy Salt Lake Man, Quote Page 7, Column 4, Salt Lake City, Utah. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎
- 1913 August 15, Variety, Volume 31, Issue 11, New Acts Next Week: Marguerite?, Quote Page 20, Column 1, Los Angeles, California. (ProQuest) ↩︎
- 1914 March 8, The Boston Sunday Globe, (Untitled filler item), Quote Page 55, Column 5, Boston, Massachusetts. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1914 June 19, The Bourbon News, Merry Young Blade, Quote Page 7, Column 2, Paris, Kentucky. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎
- 1914 July 5, The Chicago Sunday Tribune, News Notes of the Plays and Players, Section VII, Quote Page 2, Column 1, Chicago, Illinois. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1914 December 26, The Grand Forks Daily Herald, Boxers Had a Good Year; and Xmas Is Made Merry by the Fine Outlook by Billy Bink, Quote Page 6, Column 5, Grand Forks, North Dakota. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎
- 1914 December 31, The Rock Island Argus, Chords and Discords, Quote Page 4, Column 5, Rock Island, Illinois. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎
- 1917 February 14, The Berkshire County Eagle, Comic: It’s a Great Life If You Don’t Weaken by Gene Byrnes, Quote Page 16, Column 1, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1917 July 19, The Marion Daily Star, Jingles from Sportland by Jack Veiock (International News Sports Editor), Quote Page 3, Column 5, Marion, Ohio. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1918 February 13, Elmira Star-Gazette, Is Detailed in U.S. Arsenal (Correspondence from Jack C. Irvine of Elmira, New York who was a telegraph lineman and telephone repair man; he became an enlisted soldier), Quote Page 9, Column 3, Elmira, New York. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1919, Mr. Standfast by John Buchan, Chapter 5: Various Doings in the West, Quote Page 91, George H. Doran Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1921 February 3, Life, Volume 77, Issue 1996, Poem: Invictus by Dorothy Parker, Quote Page 160, Column 1, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1921, The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States by H. L. Mencken (Henry Louis Mencken), Second Edition Revised and Enlarged, Section: Appendix, Chapter 3: Proverb and Platitude, Quote Page 425, Alfred A. Knopf, New York. (Internet Archive at archive.org) ↩︎
- 1949, Nineteen Stories by Graham Greene, Story: The Basement Room, Start Page 3, Quote Page 17, The Viking Press, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1943, Esar’s Comic Dictionary by Evan Esar, Entry: accidents, Quote Page 4, Entry: whiskey, Quote Page 303, Harvest House, New York. (Verified on paper) ↩︎
- 1944, A Treasury of American Folklore: Stories, Ballads, and Traditions of the People, Edited by B. A. Botkin, Part 3: Jesters, Section 2: Humorous Anecdotes and Jests, Juke Type: Knock Knock, Who’s There?, Quote Page 475, Crown Publishers, New York. (Twenty Eighth Printing in June, 1969) (Verified on paper) ↩︎
- 1973 Copyright, In One Era and Out the Other by Sam Levenson, Quote Page 124, Pocket Books: A Division of Simon & Schuster, New York. (Verified with scans of Pocket Book edition of November 1974) ↩︎
- 1979, 1,001 Logical Laws, Accurate Axioms, Profound Principles, Compiled by John Peers, Edited by Gordon Bennett, Quote Page 146, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York. (Verified with hardcopy) ↩︎