Michael Caine? Raymond Clapper? Stephen Tallents? Bing Crosby? Japanese Saying? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: The following memorable advice uses a vivid simile:
Behave like a duck—keep calm and serene on the surface but paddle like crazy underneath.
British actor Michael Caine has received credit for this saying. Would you please explore the provenance of this clever figurative language?
Reply from Quote Investigator: This engaging simile is difficult to trace because it can be expressed in many ways. Michael Caine has used it, but he did not create it. The earliest match located by QI appeared in November 1934 within an article by widely distributed U.S. columnist Raymond Clapper. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Some New Dealers suspect that the captains of industry who are now singing belated hallelujahs to Mr. Roosevelt are practicing what the Japanese call “duck diplomacy.”
Duck diplomacy in Japan means that you float along placidly on the surface, but underneath you are paddling like the dickens with your feet.
Based on current evidence the simile originated in Japan, and the creator remains anonymous. A variant expression refers to a swan instead of a duck. Here is an overview with dates:
1934 Nov: Diplomacy in Japan – duck – float along placidly on the surface, but underneath you are paddling like the dickens with your feet
1935 Oct: Politicians – duck – appear to be sitting calmly on the water, inactive, but underneath they are paddling like the dickens
1938 May: International policy of Japan – duck – unruffled above water, but paddling like the devil below it
1939 Jun: Japanese politicians – duck – calm on the surface, but paddling like the deuce below
1955 Jun: Bing Crosby – duck – keep calm and unruffled on the surface but paddle like the devil underneath
1956 Feb: Harrods department store – duck – gliding over the surface with dignity and calm, but paddling like hell underneath
1973 Oct: School board – swan – unruffled, complacent on the surface, but paddling like the very dickens underneath
1976 May: Michael Caine on acting – duck – calm on the surface, but paddling like hell underneath
1983 Apr: Royal servant – swan – gliding on the lake . . . underneath, they’re paddling like crazy
Detailed citations are presented below.
In 1935 Raymond Clapper used the simile again when discussing politicians:2
Some coarse, self-seeking fellows just go out and announce that they want to run for office. They make a grab for the job with a boarding-house reach.
Others use the duck motion. That is, they appear to be sitting calmly on the water, inactive, but underneath they are paddling like the dickens.
In 1938 Sir Stephen Tallents delivered an address about the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) to the Rotary Club of Bristol, England, and he used an instance with the word “devil”:3
The B.B.C. complacency with regard to hints and in not squirming when kicked might be likened to the advice given to the Japanese General: “In your relations with China it is best to adopt the policy of the duck unruffled above water, but paddling like the devil below it.” (Loud laughter).
In 1939 “The Daily Mirror” of London printed an instance with the word “deuce”:4
A Japanese diplomat neatly described what is happening when he said the other day: “Our politicians are conducting themselves like ducks, calm on the surface, but paddling like the deuce below!”
In 1955 Gary Crosby published a piece about his father crooner Bing Crosby, and he used an instance of the saying with the word “crazy”:5
He is a perfectionist. I ran across a little quotation in the paper the other day that seems apropos: “Always behave like a duck—keep calm and unruffled on the surface but paddle like the devil underneath.”
In 1956 “Reader’s Digest” printed a piece about Harrods department store, and the authors used an instance with the word “hell”:6
Despite appearances, there’s nothing effortless about all this. Said one Harrodian to us, “Harrods is rather like a duck, you know—gliding over the surface with dignity and calm, but paddling like hell underneath.”
In 1973 a letter published in a Grande Prairie, Alberta newspaper contained a variant with a “swan”:7
Fortunately, in fact, the school board has been like the swan—calm, unruffled, complacent on the surface, but paddling like the very dickens underneath.
In May 1976 an entertainment columnist in a Fort Lauderdale, Florida newspaper attributed an instance to Michael Caine:8
Smooth and composed on the exterior, Caine describes his understated style as “calm, like a duck, on the surface, but paddling like hell underneath.”
In August 1976 “After Dark” magazine of New York published an article about a new film starring Michael Caine. The piece included an interview with Caine during which he attributed the saying under examination to an English theatre director:9
Joan Littlewood once told me that acting should be rather like a duck: it’s very calm on the surface and paddling like hell underneath. That’s what I find difficult— the paddling like hell!”
In 1983 “Newsday” newspaper of New York printed an article about Stephen Barry who was a former servant at Buckingham Palace. Barry used the swan variant of the saying:10
“The secret is timing,” said Barry. A servant should always look “like a swan gliding on the lake. But if you look underneath, they’re paddling like crazy”
In 2018 Michael Caine published the memoir “Blowing the Bloody Doors Off”. He employed the saying within a passage about acting:11
Ducks look calm as they glide along the surface of the water but they’re paddling like hell underneath. When you’re doing your preparation right, it sometimes looks so good that people watching you make the mistake of assuming it’s all natural and effortless. In my experience, it never is.
In summary, this simile appeared in 1934 within a column by Raymond Clapper, but he disclaimed credit and pointed to Japan. Thus, the creator remains anonymous. Michael Caine used the simile after it was already circulating. The phrasing is highly variable which makes it difficult to trace. Perhaps future researchers will find earlier citations in Japanese or English.
Image Notes: Picture of a duck paddling from Elena G at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Tim Moors whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Moors found versions using “duck”, “swan”, “devil”, “dickens”, and “hell”.
- 1934 November 23, The Washington Post, Between You and Me: A Merry Battle Impends Between President Roosevelt and the Utility Industry by Raymond Clapper, Quote Page 2, Column 3, Washington, D.C. (ProQuest) ↩︎
- 1935 October 31, The Evening News, Between You and Me: They Say in Washington by Raymond Clapper, Quote Page 13, Column 3, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1938 May 17, The Western Daily Press, Achievements of the B.B.C.: Bristol Rotary Address by Sir S. Tallants (Tallents), Quote Page 5, Column 4, Bristol, Avon, England. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1939 June 7, The Daily Mirror, Cassandra, Quote Page 13, Column 2, London, England. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1955 June 19, The Washington Post, Section: The American Weekly, My Pop, Bing Crosby by Gary Crosby, (As told to Liza Wilson, Hollywood Editor), Start Page 2, Quote Page 2, Column 3, Washington D.C. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1956 February, Reader’s Digest, Volume 68, Number 406, The World’s Most Wonderful Emporium by Charlotte and Denis Plimmer (Condensed from The Montrealer), Start Page 133, Quote Page 136, The Reader’s Digest Association, Pleasantville, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1973 October 10, The Daily Herald-Tribune, Section Comment (Letters to the editor), Letter title: Teachers anything but complacent about delay, Letter from: Sydney Larter of Grande Prairie, Quote Page 2, Column 3, Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1976 May 1, Fort Lauderdale News, Brando Celebrating 25 Years In Films by Bob Keaton (Entertainment Writer), Quote Page 12B, Column 1, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1976 August, After Dark, Volume 9, Number 4, Movie Review With Pictures: “Harry and Walter Go To New York” So I Go To Los Angeles by Norma McLain Stoop, Start Page 66, Quote Page 67, Danad Publishing Company, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1983 April 11, Newsday, Section: Part II, Serving A Royal Master by Carole Agus, Quote Page 2, Column 1, New York, New York. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 2018, Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other Lessons in Life by Michael Caine, Chapter 6: The Rehearsal Is the Work, Quote Page 111, Hodder & Stoughton, London. (Verified with scans) ↩︎