Voltaire? Cardinal Richelieu? Étienne François de Choiseul? Catharine Sedgwick? Marie-Henri Beyle? Lionel de Rothschild? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: Bankers in Switzerland are world-renowned for their financial acuity. Here are three remarks which illustrate this perception:
(1) If you ever see a Swiss banker jump out of a window, jump after him; there is a large profit to be made.
(2) If you see a Geneva banker jump out a window, follow him. There is money to be made on the way down.
(3) If you see a Zurich banker jumping out of a third story window, you may safely jump after him; you will be sure of making ten percent.
French philosopher Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) has received credit for this quip. However, I have never seen a solid citation. Would you please explore the provenance of this saying?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The important 2021 reference work “The Quotable Voltaire” edited by Garry Apgar and Edward M. Langille included an entry for this quip. The scholars concluded: “Likely misattributed to Voltaire”.1
The joke is difficult to trace because it has many forms. The earliest match found by QI appeared in “The Gentleman’s Magazine” of London in 1783. The quotation appeared in French with an ascription to Cardinal Richelieu (Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu). Boldface added to excerpts by QI:2
. . . he was amazed at their knowledge, yet he could not help thinking the saying of Cardinal Richelieu extremely applicable, “Si vous voyez un Genevois se jetter par la fenêtre, jettez vous y après; car soyez assuré qu’il y aura douze pour cent à gagner.”
Here is one possible translation into English :
“If you see a Genevan throw himself out of the window, throw yourself out afterwards; be assured that there will be twelve percent to be gained.”
Cardinal Richelieu died in 1642; hence, the evidence provided by the attribution above is very weak.
Voltaire died in 1778, and he received credit by 1807. This evidence is also weak. QI concurs with Apgar and Langille. QI would not credit Voltaire with the quip.
The Duke of Choiseul (Étienne François de Choiseul) died in 1785. He received credit by 1790. QI believes he is a plausible candidate for creator, but he was not named in the earliest citation, and the posthumous evidence is weak. Thus, based on current data QI would assign an anonymous ascription to this joke.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1790 an instance credited to the Duke of Choiseul appeared in “Les Actes des Apôtres” (“The Acts of the Apostles”). An excerpt in French followed by an English translation are shown below:3
Car il faut que vous sachiez, messieurs, que nous autres gens de cour, nous ne faisons rien pour rien, & l’on pourroit nous appliquer ce que M. de Choiseul disoit des Genevois: Si un Genevois, disoit ce ministre, se jette par la fenêtre, on peut le suivre en toute sûreté, il y au moins cinq pour cent à gagner.
For you must know, gentlemen, that we courtiers do nothing for nothing, and one could apply to us what M. de Choiseul said of the Genevans: If a Genevan, said this minister, throws himself out of a window, one can follow him in complete safety, there is at least five percent to be gained.
In 1792 “The European Magazine” of London printed a collection of anecdotes which included the following item:4
M. Le Duc de Choiseul was a man of very great wit and parts; no one had a greater knack of characterising persons or nations by a single trait than himself. One day, speaking of the Genevois, whom he disliked in general extremely, he said,“Si vous voyez jamais un Genevois sauter par une fenêtre, sautez toute de saute apres lui. Il y aura toujours vingt pour cent à gagner.”
Below is one possible rendering of the quotation into English :
“If you ever see a Genevan jump out of a window, jump right after him. There will always be twenty percent to gain.”
In 1807 Antoine-Joseph, Count of Barruel-Beauvert, published “Actes des Philosophes et des Républicains” (“Acts of the Philosophers and Republicans”) which attributed the quip to Voltaire. The French excerpt below is followed by an English translation:5
L’Impératrice de Russie ignorait, vraisemblablement, une autre remarque de Voltaire. « Si un Genevois … vient à se jeter par la fenêtre, il ne faut pas manquer d’y sauter après lui; fut-elle d’un troisième étage! Car il ya le cent pour cent, au moins à gagner. Veut-on savoir lorsqu’un citoyen de Genève est tout-à-fait mort? (Voltaire a rimé ce dernier article); qu’on fasse sonner une bourse à ses oreilles. S’il résiste à cette épreuve! qu’on lui mette la bourse dans la main. S’il ne la serre pas! il est mort, et bien mort. »
The Empress of Russia was probably unaware of another remark by Voltaire. “If a Genevan … happens to throw himself out of a window, one must not fail to jump after him; even if it is from a third floor! For there is at least one hundred percent to be gained. Do you want to know when a citizen of Geneva is completely dead? (Voltaire rhymed this last item); let a purse jingle in his ears. If he resists this test! let the purse be put in his hand. If he does not squeeze it! he is dead, and very dead.”
In 1823 “Mémoires du Prince de Montbarey” was published. The author was the Secretary of State of the War Department under King Louis XVI. The Duke of Choiseul received credit for the quip. The French excerpt below is followed by an English rendering:6
Le caractère des Genevois a été parfaitement dépeint par une plaisanterie de M le duc de Choiseul, qui prétendait que ce peuple savait si bien calculer, que, lorsqu’on voyait un Genevois se jeter d’un troisième étage par une fenêtre, on pouvait, en toute sûreté, se jeter après lui, et demeurer certain qu’il y avait vingt pour cent à gagner.
The character of the Genevans was perfectly depicted by a joke by the Duke of Choiseul, who claimed that these people knew how to calculate so well that, when one saw a Genevan throw himself from a third floor window, one could, in complete safety, throw oneself after him, and remain certain that there was twenty percent to be gained.
In 1841 U.S. author Catharine Sedgwick published “Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home”, and included the joke in English. This was the earliest instance in English found by QI. Earlier instances in English publications were written in untranslated French:7
Some of the land about it is extremely valuable, selling at one thousand pounds sterling an acre, and producing 8000 bottles of wine; and, finally, Geneva is so mercantile a place in its character, and so thriving, that, as some wag has said, “If you see a man jumping out of a third story window, you may safely jump after him; you will be sure of making ten per cent. by it.”
Prominent French author Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle) included an instance in “Mémoires d’un Touriste” (“Memoirs of a Tourist”) which was included in an edition of Stendhal’s complete works in 1854:8
Vous voyez un Génevois se jeter par la fenêtre, disait M. le duc de Choiseul, jetez-vous après sans balancer : il ya dix pour cent à gagner.
You see a Genevan throw himself out of the window, said the Duke of Choiseul, throw yourself after him without hesitation: there is ten percent to be gained.
In 1859 the periodical “Irish Miscellany” of Boston, Massachusetts printed an instance attributed to “Rothschild”. There are many Rothschild’s, but the context suggests that the intended referent was Lionel de Rothschild:9
Rothschild was guilty of the best ‘bon mot’ on the Lesseps subscription he ever uttered. ‘I wait,’ said he to a friend, ‘to see what the Swiss bankers will do in this affair. If ever you see a Swiss banker jump out of a window, never stop to pull him back, but jump out after him, and you may be sure there is fifty per cent. to be made by the measure.’
In 1914 “Genève Suisse: Le Livre du Centenaire 1814-1914” (“Geneva Switzerland: The Centenary Book 1814-1914”) linked the joke to Voltaire, but did not directly credit him:10
Genève devenait une ville riche. « Quand un banquier genevois saute par la fenêtre, disait-on au temps de Voltaire, il faut sauter après lui. Il y a de l’argent à gagner. »
Geneva was becoming a rich city. “When a Geneva banker jumps out of the window,” they said in Voltaire’s time, “you have to jump after him. There is money to be made.”
In 1949 “The World in Color Switzerland” ascribed the quip to Voltaire:11
The Geneva banking houses were already well-known in those days. And Voltaire’s remark was much quoted: « If you see a Genevese banker jump out of a window, be sure to follow him, for there is money to be made! » Geneva has given many financiers to the world.
In 1960 “Reader’s Digest” magazine published an article titled “The Hidden World of the Swiss Banks” by J. D. Ratcliff which tentatively credited Voltaire with the joke:12
For lack of natural resources in their native country, the Swiss have always been forced to make a livelihood through special lines of endeavor. Long ago they became world-famed for their shrewd, sound management of money. Voltaire is reputed to have quipped: “If you see a Geneva banker jump out a window, follow him. There is money to be made on the way down.”
In 1967 “Newsweek” magazine printed a version set in Zurich instead of Geneva:13
For the Swiss, with few natural resources, no ports, and no standing army, have made themselves an international power to reckon with by their shrewd, solid management of their own and other people’s money. “If you see a Zurich banker jump out the window,” Voltaire is supposed to have counseled, “follow him. There is money to be made on the way down.”
In 1986 the “Financial Times” of London printed the following instance:14
The 18th century French philosopher Voltaire took a notably cynical view of the motivation of the money lending profession. If you see a banker jumping out of a window, he is alleged to have said, jump after him—there’s sure to be a profit in it.
In 2008 “Great Quotations That Shaped the Western World” contained the following entry:15
Voltaire 1694-177
If you see a Swiss banker jumping out of a window, follow him: There’s bound to be money in it.
In conclusion, this quip has been attributed to Cardinal Richelieu, Étienne François de Choiseul, and Voltaire. Yet, in each case the earliest citations were posthumous. Current evidence is weak; therefore, QI believes that the proper ascription remains anonymous. Perhaps future researchers will uncover superior citations.
Image Notes: Picture of office windows from Mike Kononov at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to William Gill, Marian T. Wirth, and Branko Milanovic whose discussion thread and inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Thanks to “The Quotable Voltaire” which contained an entry on this topic with citations beginning in 1914. Thanks also to researcher Barry Popik whose webpage on this topic listed citations beginning in 1974.
- 2021, The Quotable Voltaire, Edited by Garry Apgar and Edward M. Langille, Section: Quotations by Voltaire, Topic: Swiss bankers, Quote Page 239 and 240, Bucknell University Press, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. (Verified with hardcopy) ↩︎
- 1783 June, The Gentleman’s Magazine, Volume 53, On Foreign Travel, Quote Page 500, Column 1, Printed by J. Nichols for D. Henry, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1790, Les Actes des Apôtres (The Acts of the Apostles), Tome Sixieme (Volume 6), Chapitre LXXXVII (Chapter 87), Quote Page 182, France. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1792 March, The European Magazine, Drossiana Number 30: Anecdotes of Illustrious and Extraordinary Persons, M. Le Duc de Choiseul, Quote Page 182, Column 2, Printed for J. Sewell, London, England. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1807, Actes des Philosophes et des Républicains (Acts of the Philosophers and Republicans) by Antoine-Joseph, Comte de Barruel-Beauvert, Chapter LXXXII (82), Quote Page 188, Paris, France. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1823, Mémoires du Prince de Montbarey, Ministre Secrétaire d’Etat au Département de la Guerre sous Louis XVI, Lieutenant-Général des Armées du Roi, (Memoirs of the Prince of Montbarey, Minister Secretary of State at the War Department under Louis XVI, Lieutenant-General of the King’s Armies), Tome Troisième (Volume 3), Quote Page 123, Baudouin Frères, Libraires, Paris, France. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1841, Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home by Miss Sedgwick (Catharine Maria Sedgwick), Volume 1 of 2, Letter Date: September 28, Letter Location: Geneva, Start Page 247, Quote Page 263, Edward Moxon, London. (Internet Archive Full View) link ↩︎
- 1854, Œuvres Complètes de Stendhal, Mémoires d’un Touriste (Memoirs of a Tourist) by Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle), Quote Page 232, Michel Lévy Frères, Libraires-Éditeurs, Paris, France. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1859 January 29, Irish Miscellany, Edited by Thomas O’Neill, (Filler item), Quote Page 394, Column 3, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1914, Genève Suisse: Le Livre du Centenaire, 1814-1914, Beaux-Arts by Paul Seippel, Start Page 247, Quote Page 249, A. Jullien Éditeur, Genève. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1949 Copyright, The World in Color Switzerland, Edited by Doré Ogrizek and J. G. Rufenacht, Chapter: Geneva, Quote Page 76, Whittlesey House: McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1960 July, Reader’s Digest, Volume 77, Number 459, The Hidden World of the Swiss Banks by J. D. Ratcliff, Start Page 222, Quote Page 223, Column 1 and 2, The Reader’s Digest Association, Pleasantville, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1967 January 9, Newsweek, Where Money Talks in a Hush, Start Page 54, Quote Page 54, Column 3, Newsweek Inc., Dayton, Ohio. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1986 July 5, Financial Times, Section: Weekend FT, The Long View: International licences to print money by John Plender, Quote Page 1, Column 1, London, England. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2008, Great Quotations That Shaped the Western World, Compiled by Carl H. Middleton, Section: Voltaire (1694-1778), Quote Page 181, Paragon House, St. Paul, Minnesota. (Verified with scans) ↩︎