Mignon McLaughlin? William Butler Yeats? Bertrand Russell? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: The present state of the world might be best explained with the following acerbic remark:
The know-nothings of the world are, regrettably, not the do-nothings.
I am not sure of the original phrasing. Would you please help me to trace this saying and determine the originator?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in “The Neurotic’s Notebook” by Mignon McLaughlin who was a journalist, a magazine editor, and an aphorist. Here are three items from the book. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
The know-nothings are, unfortunately, seldom the do-nothings.
What you have become is the price you paid to get what you used to want.
It is romantic to expect that things will get better, cynical to suppose that they will not, bestial not to care.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1920 a thematically related expression appeared in a poem by William Butler Yeats titled “The Second Coming”. The final two lines of the first section were the following:2
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
In 1933 a thematically related comment appeared in an essay by Bertrand Russell which lamented the rise of the Nazi movement in Germany. The essay appeared under the title “Stupidity Rules” in the “San Francisco Examiner” of California:3
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure, while the intelligent are full of doubt.
In 1996 “The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women” compiled by Rosalie Maggio included this entry:4
The know-nothings are, unfortunately, seldom the do-nothings.
Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic’s Notebook (1963)
In 2001 the saying appeared in “Random House Webster’s Quotationary” compiled by Leonard Roy Frank:5
The know-nothings are, unfortunately, seldom the do-nothings.
MIGNON McLAUGHLIN (1915-). The Neurotic’s Notebook, 5, 1963
In conclusion, Mignon McLaughlin deserves credit for this expression which appeared in her 1963 book “The Neurotic’s Notebook”. This book and its successor “The Second Neurotic’s Notebook” contain many entertaining sayings.
Image Notes: Silhouettes of people from Gordon Johnson at Pixabay. The image has been resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to the anonymous person whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
- 1963, The Neurotic’s Notebook by Mignon McLaughlin, Chapter 5: The General Orneriness of Things, Quote Page 62, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, Indiana. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1920 November, Periodical: The Dial, Article Title: Ten Poems, Poem: The Second Coming, Author: William Butler Yeats, Quote Page: 466, Publisher: The Dial Publishing Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1933 May 10, San Francisco Examiner, Stupidity Rules by Bertrand Russell, Quote Page 10, Column 7, San Francisco, California. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1996 Copyright, The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women, Compiled by Rosalie Maggio, Topic: Ignorance, Quote Page 338, Column 1, Beacon Press, Boston, Massachusetts. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2001, Random House Webster’s Quotationary, Editor Leonard Roy Frank, Topic: Ignorance, Quote Page 385, Column 2, Random House, New York. (Paperback edition; Verified with hardcopy) ↩︎