Mignon McLaughlin? Curzon Cooper? Robert Byrne? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: Whenever I lose an item it suddenly becomes very important. The item is exactly what I need to complete a vital task. This experience is reflected in the following quip:
Anything you lose automatically doubles in value.
Would you please determine who originated this quip?
Reply from Quote Investigator: Mignon McLaughlin was a writer and editor at magazines such as “The Atlantic Monthly”, “Glamour”, and “Vogue” for four decades from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1966 she published “The Second Neurotic’s Notebook” which contained miscellaneous aphorisms such as the following three statements. Boldface added to excepts by QI:[1] 1966, The Second Neurotic’s Notebook by Mignon McLaughlin, Chapter 9: Getting and Spending, Quote Page 37, 55, and 80, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, Indiana. (Verified with scans)
A sense of humor is a major defense against minor troubles.
It’s easier to part with a friend than an opinion.
Anything you lose automatically doubles in value.
Additional details and citations are available in the article on the Medium platform which is located here.
Image Notes: Illustration of question marks symbolically representing lost objects from qimono at Pixabay.
References
| ↑1 | 1966, The Second Neurotic’s Notebook by Mignon McLaughlin, Chapter 9: Getting and Spending, Quote Page 37, 55, and 80, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, Indiana. (Verified with scans) |
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