Voltaire? George Burns? Paul Harvey? Stanisław Jerzy Lec? Percy Bysshe Shelley? Etaislaw Lee? Stanisław Leszczyński? Stanisław Lem? Jacek Galazka?
Question for Quote Investigator: A mob or a mass movement can cause enormous destruction. Also, the inaction of a large apathetic group in a perilous time can lead to ruination. Yet, individuals disavow liability. Here are three versions of a pertinent metaphorical adage:
(1) No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.
(2) Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty.
(3) In an avalanche, no one snowflake ever feels responsible.
This saying has been attributed to French wit Voltaire, Polish aphorist Stanisław Jerzy Lec, U.S. comedian George Burns, and others. Would you please explore this topic?
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest close match found by QI appeared in the September 1963 issue of “Holiday” magazine of Pennsylvania within a collection of sayings from the Polish satirist Stanisław Jerzy Lec. The sayings had been translated by Jacek M. Galazka. These three items were included:1
It is the high priests that have demands—not the gods they serve.
No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.
Percussion wins every discussion.
“Holiday” magazine was available before its publication date. The quotation was eye-catching, and it was reprinted in the August 18, 1963 issue of “Quote: The Weekly Digest” with an acknowledgment to “Holiday”:2
No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible. — STANISLAW Lec, translated by JACEK M GALAZKA, Holiday.
Stanisław Jerzy Lec is the leading candidate for creator of this saying.
In 1837 “The Birmingham Journal” of England published a piece by a political activist who employed an analogy depicting individuals as snowflakes able to unite to form a powerful avalanche:3
The avalanche of the Alps, which carries destruction in its gathering force, and whelms whole districts in its frozen shroud, acquired its tremendous force by UNION—the vast mass of cold destruction was accumulated flake by flake. Compare this figure yourselves—ye are the snow-flakes; gather then instruction from nature, single flakes form the avalanche, single grains of sand form mountains, single drops form the mighty ocean, and supply its resistless power!
In 1820 English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley published “Prometheus Unbound”. He employed a splendid simile connecting snowflakes and thoughts:4
Awful as silence. Hark! the rushing snow!
The sun-awakened avalanche! whose mass,
Thrice sifted by the storm, had gathered there
Flake after flake, in heaven-defying minds
As thought by thought is piled, till some great truth
Is loosened, and the nations echo round,
Shaken to their roots, as do the mountains now.
In 1880 “The Illustrated London News” printed an anonymous statement that echoed Shelley’s verses:5
“Thoughts, like snow-flakes on some far-off mountain-side, go on accumulating till some great truth is loosened, and falls like an avalanche on the waiting world.”
In 1963 “Holiday” magazine printed an article with sayings from Stanisław Jerzy Lec translated by Jacek M. Galazka. This item was included as mentioned previously:6
No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.
In January 1964 popular radio broadcaster and newspaper columnist Paul Harvey published an instance of the saying in English. This was the earliest instance located by QI:7
In an avalanche, no one snowflake ever feels responsible.
In February 1964 the saying appeared in a Chillicothe, Missouri newspaper within a collection of quotations compiled by students at the local high school. The odd attribution might be a garbled version of the name “Stanislaw Lec”:8
No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.
—Etaislaw Lee.
In 1968 the adage appeared in the book “More Unkempt Thoughts” by Stanisław Jerzy Lec. Here were two items from that book:9
No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.
Do not trust people. They are capable of greatness.
This book was translated from Polish by Jacek Galazka. Some sources have suggested that the Polish source book was titled “Myśli Nieuczesane Nowe” (“Unkempt New Thoughts”); however, QI has corresponded with two individuals who have carefully examined 1964 and 1966 editions of that book and determined that the quotation was absent. Thus, the identity of the Polish source book for the quotation remains uncertain.10
A message on X suggested that the original Polish quotation was the following, but QI has not yet verified this claim:11
Żaden pyłek lawiny nie poczuwa się do winy.
One possible rendering in English:
Not a single snowflake in an avalanche feels guilty.
A volunteer editor at the crowdsourced website Wikiquote suggested that the following was the original Polish quotation, but QI has not yet verified this claim:12
Żaden płatek śniegu nie czuje się odpowiedzialny za lawinę.
One possible rendering in English:
No snowflake feels responsible for an avalanche.
Also, in 1968 Evan Esar printed a different phrasing in his compilation “20,000 Quips and Quotes”:13
Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty.
—Stanislaw J. Lec
In 1970 widely syndicated columnist Earl Wilson printed the saying with an ascription containing a slight misspelling:14
REMEMBERED QUOTE: “Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty.”—Stanislaw J. Lee.
In 1973 the saying appeared within a jewelry advertisement in an Allentown, Pennsylvania newspaper. Stanisław Leszczyński who was an 18th century King of Poland received credit:15
No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.
—Stanislaus Leszczynski
In 1977 syndicated newspaper columnist of Sydney J. Harris published a thematically similar saying with a different metaphorical framework:16
No individual raindrop ever considers itself to be responsible for the flood.
A separate QI article about the raindrop saying is available here.
In 1997 “Simpson’s Contemporary Quotations” attributed the saying to a prominent Polish science fiction author. This error was probably due to a misspelling:17
Stanislaw Lem essayist
No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.
More Unkempt Thoughts Funk & Wagnalls 69
In 2004 Mike George published the compilation “1,001 Meditations” which attributed the saying to a famous French author:18
The snowflake “No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.” Voltaire (1694-1778)
In 2006 the Reader’s Digest Association published “Treasury of Wit & Wisdom” which attributed the saying to a well-known actor and comedian:19
No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible. — George Burns
In conclusion, this saying should be credited to Stanisław Jerzy Lec based on the 1963 citation in “Holiday” magazine. This instance was written in English, but the original language was Polish. The earlier Polish statement has not yet been precisely located by QI. The ascriptions to Voltaire and Stanisław Leszczyński are unsupported. The attribution to George Burns occurred after the saying was in circulation.
Image Notes: Public domain illustration of snowflakes from “The Century Dictionary” of 1895. Image has been resized and cropped.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to the anonymous friend whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Special thanks to Szescstopni and Franek Vetulani who examined the 1964 and 1966 editions of “Myśli Nieuczesane Nowe” and were unable to find the quotation. Also, thanks to Gerald Krieghofer who pointed to the “Quote: The Weekly Digest” citation. Thanks to Andrzej75 for presenting a candidate for the original Polish saying.
Update History: On May 30, 2022 the article was rewritten based on the absence of the quotation in “Myśli Nieuczesane Nowe”. On March 17, 2025 the format of the bibliographical notes was updated. On August 4, 2026, the citations dated September 1963; August 18, 1963; and March 2, 1977 were added to the article. On August 8, 2026 another candidate for the original Polish saying was added to the article. The acknowledgement was updated to mention Gerald Krieghofer.
- 1963 September, Periodical: Holiday, Article: More Unkempt Thoughts (Book excerpt translated into English), Author: Stanislaw Lec, Translator: Jacek M. Galazka, Start Page 44, Quote Page 45, Column 1, The Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1963 August 18, Quote: The Weekly Digest, Volume 46, Number 8, Topic: Responsibility, Quote Page 14, Droke House, Indianapolis, Indiana. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1837 May 13, The Birmingham Journal, To the Wealth Producers of Birmingham and of the Midland Counties by Jack Steadfast, Quote Page 7, Column 4, Warwickshire, England. (British Newspaper Archive) ↩︎
- 1820, Prometheus Unbound: A Lyrical Drama in Four Acts with Other Poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Act II, Quote Page 78, C. and J. Ollier, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1880 December 15, The Illustrated London News, (Epigraph at top of page), Quote Page 35, London, England. (British Newspaper Archive) ↩︎
- 1963 September, Periodical: Holiday, Article: More Unkempt Thoughts (Book excerpt translated into English), Author: Stanislaw Lec, Translator: Jacek M. Galazka, Start Page 44, Quote Page 45, Column 1, The Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1964 January 9, Greenwood Commonwealth, An Old Flame Flickers by Paul Harvey, Quote Page 4, Column 7, Greenwood, Mississippi. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1964 February 21, The Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune, Chilli Chatter by Chillicothe High School Student Council, Quotes, Quote Page 4, Column 3, Chillicothe, Missouri. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1968 Copyright, More Unkempt Thoughts by Stanisław J. Lec, Translated by Jacek Galazka, Quote Page 9, Funk & Wagnalls, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- Personal communication via twitter between Garson O’Toole (@QuoteResearch) and FranekVetulani (@FranekVetulani) on May 29, 2022; Also, personal communication via twitter between Garson O’Toole (@QuoteResearch) and @szescstopni on May 29, 2022. ↩︎
- X-Tweet, From: Andrzej75 ∞ @andrzej75_, Timestamp: 2:12 PM, Aug 8, 2026, Text: This quote is definitely Lec’s … (Accessed on x.com on August 8, 2026) link ↩︎
- Website: Wikiquote, Person: Stanisław Jerzy Lec, A Wikimedia Project of Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (Accessed wikiquote.org on April 26, 2022; Polish version of the quotation was obtained from Wikiquote; QI has not yet verified the Polish quotation) link ↩︎
- 1968, 20,000 Quips and Quotes by Evan Esar, Topic: Snow, Quote Page 748, Doubleday, Garden City, New York. (Verified with hardcopy) ↩︎
- 1970 March 25, The State Journal, Groucho Plugs Show About Mommy by Earl Wilson (Syndicated), Today’s Laughs, Quote Page A11, Column 4, Lansing, Michigan. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1973 February 13, The Morning Call, (Advertisement for Thornton Jewelers), Quote Page 1, Column 2, Allentown, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1977 March 2, Tacoma News Tribune, Thoughts at large by Sydney J. Harris (Field Newspaper Syndicate), Quote Page A11, Column 1, Tacoma, Washington. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1997, Simpson’s Contemporary Quotations: The Most Notable Quotes Since 1950, Revised Edition, Edited by James B. Simpson, Section: Humankind, Topic: Wisdom, Philosophy, and Other Musings, Person: Stanislaw Lem (essayist), Quote Page 376, Column 2, HarperCollins Publishers, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2004, 1,001 Meditations, Compiled by Mike George Chapter: Choice and Responsibility, Quote Page 64, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, California. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2006, Treasury of Wit & Wisdom: 4,000 of the Funniest, Cleverest, Most Insightful Things Ever Said, Compiled by Jeff Bredenberg, Topic: The Human Condition, Quote Page 258, The Reader’s Digest Association, Pleasantville, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎