H. G. Wells? Robert Silverman? Diane Ackerman? Carie Dann? Heathcote Williams? Ali Smith? Apocryphal?
Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I have hope for the human race.
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.
I fear that this is a misquotation. I have never seen a precise citation for this statement pointing to an essay, book, or speech created by H. G. Wells. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has been unable to find substantive evidence supporting the attribution to H. G. Wells who died in 1946. The earliest close match located by QI appeared in the magazine “Bicycle USA” circa 1988 within a letter sent to the periodical. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:[ref] 1988 February, Bicycle USA, Volume 24, Section: Letters to the Editor, Quote Page 4, League of American Wheelmen, Bicycle USA, Baltimore, Maryland. (Note: QI has not yet verified this citation with scans or hardcopy; data and text are based on a match in Google Books; only snippets are visible; page number and date were extracted from Google Books and may be inaccurate) [/ref]
I encourage you to continue your efforts to make bicycling safer and more pleasant for the millions of bicyclists in North America. “Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race” said H.G. Wells.
Robert Silverman
Montreal, Canada
QI does not know where the letter writer obtained this quotation. The long delay after the death of H. G. Wells greatly diminished the credibility of this citation.
Three different books by H. G. Wells have been suggested as the source of the quotation: “The Wheels of Chance” (1896), “The History of Mr. Polly” (1910), and “The Rights of Man” (1940). QI has explored these books, and the quotation was absent. Details are presented further below.
Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.
H. G. Wells did display enthusiasm for bicycles. His vision of utopia included ubiquitous bicycle paths winding through forests and gardens. A pertinent passage occurred in his 1905 alternate history novel “A Modern Utopia”[ref] 1905, A Modern Utopia by H. G. Wells, Chapter 2: Concerning Freedoms, Quote Page 47, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. (Google Books Full View) link [/ref] which was serialized in “The Fortnightly Review” in 1904:[ref] 1904 November, The Fortnightly Review, A Modern Utopia: A Sociological Holiday by H.G. Wells, Chapter 2: Concerning Freedoms, Start Page 928, Quote Page 936, Chapman and Hall, London; Also Leonard Scott Publication Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link [/ref]
Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia, sometimes following beside the great high roads, but oftener taking their own more agreeable line amidst woods and crops and pastures; and there will be a rich variety of footpaths and minor ways. There will be many footpaths in Utopia.
A separate Quote Investigator article about the quotation immediately above is available here.
In 1988 “Bicycle USA” published a letter from Robert Silverman containing a version of the quotation as mentioned previously:
“Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race” said H.G. Wells.
In November 1990 “Quad-City Times” of Davenport, Iowa published an article by journalist Carie Dann titled “Wheeling to work” which employed a different instance of the quotation as an epigraph:[ref] 1990 November 4, Quad-City Times, Wheeling to work by Carie Dann (Quad-City Times), Quote Page H1, Column 1, Davenport, Iowa. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
“When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.”
— H.G. Wells
In 1991 the anti-automobile book “Autogeddon” by Heathcote Williams included a different version of the quotation with the word “hope” instead of “despair”:[ref] 1991, Autogeddon by Heathcote Williams, Chapter: Voices Dying to be Heard above the Traffic, Quote Page 136, Jonathan Cape, London. (Verified with scans) [/ref]
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I have hope for the human race.
H. G. Wells, 1866-1946
In August 1991 a review of “Autogeddon” appeared in “The Huddersfield Daily Examiner” of West Yorkshire, England, and the quotation from the book was reprinted with an attribution to H. G. Wells.[ref] 1991 August 26, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner, Writer’s devastating attack on the ‘all-destroying motorcar’: Autogeddon by David Hammond, Book Review of “Autogeddon” by Heathcote Williams, Quote Page 10, Column 5, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
In October 1991 “The Guardian” of London printed an instance within a sidebar to a collection of articles about automobiles, traffic, and pollution. This instance was identical to the version in “Autogeddon”.[ref] 1991 October 18, The Guardian, Car Culture, Quote Page 32, Column 1, London, Greater London, England. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
In February 1992 “The Gazette” of Montreal, Canada published an instance of the quotation spoken by Robert Silverman who founded a group called “Le Monde à Bicyclette” which promoted the use of bicycles for transportation. QI does not know whether Silverman was the same person who wrote the 1988 letter in “Bicycle USA”:[ref] 1992 February 12, The Gazette, Off to check Cuban pedal power by Marlene Caplan, Quote Page A3, Column 4, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
“In 1961 I heard Fidel promise a car to every Cuban,” Silverman chuckled. “Bicycle advocacy transcends capitalism and socialism. Every time I see an adult on a bicycle it gives me hope for the human race.”
Also, in February 1992 The San Bernardino County Sun” printed an instance:[ref] 1992 February 26, The San Bernardino County Sun, Thought for the Commute, Unnumbered Page, Column 1, Newspaper Location: San Bernardino, California. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
THOUGHT FOR THE COMMUTE
“When I see an adult on a bicycle, I have hope for the human race.”
H.G. Wells 1866-1946
In 1999 U.S. poet and essayist Diane Ackerman published “Deep Play”, and she pointed to a specific book by H. G. Wells while presenting the quotation:[ref] 1999, Deep Play by Diane Ackerman, Chapter Six: Creating Minds, Quote Page 134, Random House, New York. (Verified with scans) [/ref]
In Wheels of Chance: A Bicycling Idyll (1896), H. G. Wells proclaims: “When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.” To his mind, any ideal future must include bikes, which is why he promises that “Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia.”
QI has examined the book mentioned by Ackerman. The U.K. edition was titled “The Wheels of Chance: A Holiday Adventure”[ref] 1896, The Wheels of Chance: A Holiday Adventure by H. G. Wells (Herbert George Wells), (Quotation is absent), J. M. Dent and Company, London. (Google Books Full View) link [/ref] and the U.S. edition was titled “The Wheels of Chance: A Bicycling Idyll”.[ref] 1897 (1896 Copyright), The Wheels of Chance: A Bicycling Idyll by H. G. Wells, (Quotation is absent), The Macmillan Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link [/ref] Both editions are now in the public domain, and complete scans are available in the Google Books database. Sadly, the quotation was absent.
In 2013 “The Biteback Dictionary Of Humorous Sporting Quotations” compiled by Fred Metcalf included the following entry:[ref] 2013, The Biteback Dictionary Of Humorous Sporting Quotations, Compiled by Fred Metcalf, Topic: Cycling, Quote Page 154, Biteback Publishing, London, England. (Verified with scans) [/ref]
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.
H. G. Wells, novelist
In 2015 Scottish author Ali Smith delivered the “The 2nd Annual PEN H. G. Wells Lecture”. In her lecture Smith envisioned herself communicating with a fantastical figure from another world. The figure employed the quotation while referring to Wells’s comic novel “The History of Mr. Polly”:[ref] 2017, The Rights of Man by H. G. Wells, Section Title: What Are We Fighting For?, Subtitle: The 2nd Annual PEN H. G. Wells Lecture, Date: August 15, 2015, Author: Ali Smith, Unnumbered Page, Vintage Classics Edition, Vintage Books: A Division of Penguin Random House, New York. (Kindle Edition) [/ref]
Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race, the figure said.
Who are you? I said.
I’m – I’m a Visitant from Another World. And that’s from near the end of History of Mr Polly, 1910. Sold thousands. You read it yourself, in another world. Remember? You were sixteen.
The 1910 edition of “The History of Mr. Polly” is now in the public domain, and complete scans are available in the Google Books database.[ref] 1910, The History of Mr. Polly by H. G. Wells, (Quotation is absent), Thomas Nelson and Sons, London. (Google Books Full View) link [/ref] QI has searched this text, and the quotation was absent.
The 2015 PEN lecture by Ali Smith was included in a modern 2015 reprint of “The Rights of Man” by H. G. Wells which originally appeared in 1940. This has caused some confusion. The quotation appeared in the 2015 edition of “The Rights of Man” only because it occurred in the introductory section containing Ali Smith’s lecture. The quotation did not appear in the original 1940 text of “The Rights of Man”.[ref] 2017, The Rights of Man by H. G. Wells, (Note: The target quotation does not appear in the main body of text which reprints “The Rights of Man”; the quotation only appears in the introductory section by Ali Smith titled “What Are We Fighting For?: The 2nd Annual PEN H. G. Wells Lecture”), Vintage Classics Edition, Vintage Books: A Division of Penguin Random House, New York. (Kindle Edition) [/ref]
The website “Lib Quotes” commendably makes a strong effort to provide sources for quotation. In 2022 the website included an entry for this quotation:[ref] Website: Lib Quotes, Article title: H. G. Wells Quote, Date on website: Not specified, Website description: Collection of quotations with sources. (Accessed libquotes.com on December 10, 2022) link [/ref]
Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.
H. G. Wells
The Rights of Man (ed. Penguin UK, 2015) – ISBN: 9780241976753
Regrettably, the entry above was misleading because the website visitor would likely believe that the quotation was penned H. G. Wells and placed into “The Rights of Man”. Instead, the quotation occurred in the introductory essay by Ali Smith at the beginning of the modern edition of “The Rights of Man” as stated previously.
In conclusion, this article presents a snapshot of current research. QI has found no substantive support for the attribution to H. G. Wells. The earliest match located by QI appeared decades after the death of Wells. Pointers to “The Wheels of Chance”, “The History of Mr. Polly”, and “The Rights of Man” are red herrings. These books do not contain the quotation. Perhaps future researchers will discover some illuminating citations.
(Great thanks to John Neal, Mardy Grothe, and Clint Von Gundy whose inquiries led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. John Neal told QI that the quotation occurred in Ali Smith’s introductory essay to “The Rights of Man”. Thanks also to Jane Bella who told QI about the pertinent entry on the Lib Quotes website.)
Image Notes: Public domain illustration by J. Ayton Symington from “The Wheels of Chance: A Holiday Adventure” by H. G. Wells published in 1896. Image has been cropped and resized.