Jonathan Swift? Edgar Allan Poe? Mary Livingstone? Oscar Levant? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: The dislike of puns is rooted in jealousy. A wit once said something like the following:
Punning is a talent which no one despises except those without it.
This notion has been attributed to Irish satirist Jonathan Swift, U.S. horror writer Edgar Allan Poe, and others. Would you please help me to find a citation and determine the precise phrasing?
Reply from Quote Investigator: There is a family of related sayings which discuss the art of creating puns. Below is an overview with dates:
1755: He greatly excelled in punning; a talent, which, he said, no man affected to despise, but those that were without it. (Comment about Jonathan Swift)
1764: Punning is a talent which no man affects to despise, but he that is without it. (Attributed to Jonathan Swift)
1807: Puns are disliked by none but those who can’t make them. (Attributed to Jonathan Swift)
1831: Nobody dislikes a pun but he who cannot make one. (Attributed to “a celebrated author” by T.H.B.)
1845: Of puns it has been said that those most dislike who are least able to utter them. (Written by Edgar Allan Poe)
1941: There must be one in every family . . . who thinks a pun is the lowest form of wit because he didn’t think of it first. (Written by Mary Livingstone)
1945: The pun is the lowest form of humor—when you don’t think of it first. (Attributed to Oscar Levant)
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Jonathan Swift died in 1745, and in 1755 a six volume collection of his works was published together with a biographical sketch. Swift received credit for the saying about puns within the sketch. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
He greatly excelled in punning; a talent, which, he said, no man affected to despise, but those that were without it; and his conversation would have furnished a more excellent compendium of this species of wit, than was ever yet compiled, or, perhaps, ever will; some of these sallies of his imagination are still remembered . . .
Thus, the ascription to Jonathan Swift occurred after his death, and the remark was not placed directly between quotation marks.
In 1763 the multi-volume work “Biographia Britannica: Or The Lives of the Most Eminent Persons Who Have Flourished in Great Britain and Ireland” included a short biography of Jonathan Swift which repeated the remark:2
He greatly excelled in punning, a talent he said which no man affected to despise, but those which were without it. But his conversation abounded with turns of wit of a higher kind.
In 1764 “The Newcastle Chronicle” of Newcastle, England published an advertisement for a book of wit and humor. The advertisement credited Swift with a direct quotation:3
Punning is a Talent which no Man affects to despise, but he that is without it. SWIFT.
Also, in 1746 the advertisement appeared in other periodicals such as “The Glocester Journal” of Gloucester, England. Thus, the quotation achieved further distribution. The letter “u” was omitted from the newspaper name.4
In 1807 “The Monthly Mirror” of London printed an article with an epigraph attributed to Swift. The phrasing used the word “disliked” instead of “despise”:5
EVERY MAN HIS OWN PUNSTER
“Puns are disliked by none but those who can’t make them.” Swift.
In 1831 “The Satchel: A Repository of Wit, Whimsies, and What-not” published a piece titled “On Punning” by T.H.B. in which a similar statement was attributed to an unnamed “celebrated author”:6
A celebrated author says “Nobody dislikes a pun but he who cannot make one.” So say I; for it stands to reason that one defective in that ready wit which is necessary in the punster will not like to hear another capable of doing that which he knows himself incapable of.
In 1833 the book “Tiptree Races: A Comic Punning Poem used the quotation attributed to Swift as an epigraph. This instance used the phrase “he who” instead of “he that”:7
“Punning is a talent which no man affects to despise, but he who is without it.”—SWIFT.
In 1845 Edgar Allan Poe published “Marginal Notes.—No. 1” in “Godey’s Lady’s Book”. Poe penned a thematically related remark, but he disclaimed credit by using the phrase “it has been said”:8
Of puns it has been said that those most dislike who are least able to utter them.
In 1941 U.S. radio comedian Mary Livingstone employed a thematically similar remark in an article titled “How To Live With a Comic” in “Liberty” magazine. Livingstone was married to fellow comedian Jack Benny:9
This makes me realize there must be one in every family—a husband, a son, an uncle, or the handy man around the house . . . who thinks a pun is the lowest form of wit because he didn’t think of it first.
In 1945 “Reader’s Digest” magazine attributed the same quip to concert pianist and comedian Oscar Levant although a precise citation was not provided:10
The Pun Is the Lowest Form of Humor—When You Don’t Think of It First.
—Oscar Levant
The remark ascribed to Swift was not forgotten. In 1949 “The Dictionary of Humorous Quotations” compiled by Evan Esar included an instance:11
SWIFT, Jonathan, 1667-1745, English satirist and social reformer.
Punning is a talent which no man affects to despise but he that is without it.
In 1971 “Bartlett’s Unfamiliar Quotations” compiled by Leonard Louis Levinson included an entry for the quotation:12
Punning is a talent which no man affects to despise but he that is without it.
Jonathan Swift
In conclusion, there is substantive evidence that Jonathan Swift employed the saying under examination. However, Swift died in 1745, and the earliest match known to QI occurred in 1755 within a biographical sketch of the famous satirist. Also, the phrasing remains somewhat uncertain because the 1755 instance was not presented as a direct quotation. The instance in 1764 was presented as a direct quotation.
Image Notes: Public domain illustration of two owls by Gustave Dore. The image has been cropped.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Eli Burnstein who inquired about the quotation attributed to Oscar Levant. QI expanded the research topic which led to the formulation and exploration of this family of sayings. Thanks to Mithical at Literature Stackexchange who uncovered the 1755 and 1807 citations. Thanks to Rand al’Thor at Literature Stack Exchange who uncovered the 1831 and 1845 citations.
Update History: On December 18, 2023 the 1831 citation was added to the article.
- 1755, The Works of Jonathan Swift, Six Volumes, Edited by John Hawkesworth, An Account of the Life of the Reverend Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St. Patrick’s, Dublin, Quote Page 32, Printed for C. Bathurst, C. Davis, C. Hitch, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1763, Biographia Britannica: Or The Lives of the Most Eminent Persons Who Have Flourished in Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 6, Part 1, Section: Dr. Jonathan Swift, Start Page 3857, Quote Page 3876, Printed for J. Walthoe, T. Osborne, H. Whitridge, et al, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1764 April 28, The Newcastle Chronicle, This Day is Published (Advertisement for the second edition of The Celebrated Mrs. Pilkington’s Jests: Or, The Cabinet of Wit and Humour), Quote Page 3, Column 3, Newcastle, England. (British Newspaper Archive) ↩︎
- 1764 July 2, The Glocester Journal, This Day is Published (Advertisement for the second edition of The celebrated Mrs. Pilkington’s Jests; or, The Cabinet of Wit and Humour), Quote Page 4, Column 1, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1807 September, The Monthly Mirror, Every Man His Own Punster, (Quotation occurs as an epigraph), Quote Page 155, Printed for the proprietors by J. Wright. London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1831 March 26, The Satchel: A Repository of Wit, Whimsies, and What-not, Number 4, On Punning by T.H.B., Start Page 27, Quote Page 27, Column 2, Published by Berger and Purkess, London.(Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1833, Tiptree Races: A Comic Punning Poem by “C. C.”, (Epigraph on title page), Printed and Published by P. H. Youngman, Maldon, England. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1845 August, Godey’s Lady’s Book, Volume 31, Number 5, Marginal Notes.—No. 1 by Edgar A. Poe, Start Page 49, Quote Page 49, Column 2, Louis A. Godey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1941 February 8, Liberty, How To Live With a Comic by Mary Livingstone, Start Page 56, Quote Page 56, Column 1, Macfadden Publications, New York.(Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1945 April, Reader’s Digest, Volume 46, Number 276, (Untitled miscellaneous collection of quotations), Quote Page 63, The Reader’s Digest Association, Pleasantville, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1949 Copyright, The Dictionary of Humorous Quotations, Edited by Evan Esar, Section: Jonathan Swift, Quote Page 194, Bramhall House, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1971, Bartlett’s Unfamiliar Quotations, Compiled by Leonard Louis Levinson, Topic: Puns, Quote Page 245, Cowles Book Company: Henry Regnery Company, Chicago, Illinois. (Verified with scans) ↩︎