Quote Origin: A Committee Is a Gathering of Important People Who, Singly Can Do Nothing, But Together Can Decide That Nothing Can Be Done

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Fred Allen? John Florence Sullivan? St. Martin’s Review? Anonymous?

Picture of a boardroom from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: Meetings are often ineffective time-wasting exercises. Here are two versions of a popular comical criticism:

(1) A committee is a body of people who individually can do nothing but collectively they may decide that nothing can be done.

(2) A conference is a gathering of important people who, singly can do nothing but together can decide that nothing can be done.

This gag has been attributed to U.S. comedian and radio broadcaster Fred Allen (stage name of John Florence Sullivan). Would you please help me to trace this joke?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match found by QI appeared in October 1934 within the “Evening Sentinel” of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England which pointed to “St. Martin’s Review” as the source. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1

From the same Review — A Committee is a gathering of important people who, singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done.

The newspaper did not specify the author; hence, the creator remains anonymous.

Fred Allen employed an instance of this gag in January 1940. Allen used the word “conference” instead of “committee”. Details appear further below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

In December 1934, the same statement appeared in “The Christian Science Monitor”2 of Boston, Massachusetts which acknowledged “St. Martin’s Review”.

In January 1935, the same statement appeared in the “Elmira Star-Gazette”3 of Elmira, New York which acknowledged “St. Martin’s Review”.

In August 1935, a different phrasing appeared in “The Mercury” newspaper of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia:4

“What is a committee, father?” asked the youthful student. “Ha! a committee; let me see! Well, my boy, a committee is a body of persons who individually can do nothing but collectively they may decide that nothing can be done,” answered the experienced father.
VIGILANT.
“The Mercury” Office, Hobart.

In February 1936 a newspaper in Leicester, England printed another phrasing of the jest:5

A Rugby schoolboy was asked to give the definition of a committee. He replied with the following :—

“A committee is a collection of great men who individually can do nothing, but collectively they are able to decide that nothing can be done.”

In February 1940, “Time” magazine reported that Fred Allen made a joke about Wall Street financiers which roused objections from the President of the New York Stock Exchange William McChesney Martin Jr. This caused Allen to send a mock apology to McChesney which he posted on the floor of the Exchange. Allen’s apology contained the following remark:6

… a conference is a gathering of important people who, singly, can do nothing but together can decide that nothing can be done.

In 1942 a newspaper in Frankfort, Kentucky claimed that a prominent columnist used the expression:7

… we borrow a brief from New York’s Walter Winchell who said in his last night’s column that the definition of a committee was:

“A group of men who individually can decide nothing and who, as a group, decide that nothing can be done.”

In 1948 “The Home Book of Proverbs, Maxims and Familiar Phrases” compiled by Burton Stevenson contained this entry:8

A conference is a gathering of important people who, singly, can do nothing but together can decide that nothing can be done.
Fred Allen, Letter to W. M. Martin, 25 Jan.1940. Martin was the President of the N Y. Stock Exchange.

In 1966 “Quote” magazine printed a version of the joke:9

There are, of course, nonconformist companies that prefer a thought-provoking memo to a time-consuming meeting any day. They maintain that conferences are merely convocations of people who singly can do nothing and collectively decide that nothing can be done.

In 1985 a feature from Associated Press credited Fred Allen with an instance using the word “committee”:10

Thought for Today: “Committee —a group of men who individually can do nothing, but as a group decide that nothing can be done.” — Fred Allen.

In conclusion, the earliest instance of this joke in October 1934 referred to a committee and not a conference. It appeared in an English newspaper which acknowledged “St. Martin’s Review”. QI has not yet seen “St. Martin’s Review”. The creator remains anonymous. In 1940 Fred Allen used a variant with the word “conference”. Allen was the most important popularizer of this quip.

Image Notes: Picture of a boardroom from Benjamin Child at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.

Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Christine Ozanne who mentioned this joke to Nigel Rees who included the quip in the July 2025 issue of “The ‘Quote…Unquote’ Newsletter” which led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Rees remarked that Fred Allen had been given credit in a 1951 reference work.

  1. 1934 October 6, Evening Sentinel, Crocks and Crazes: A Broadcast Objection, Quote Page 3, Column 3, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. (British Newspaper Archive) ↩︎
  2. 1934 December 19, The Christian Science Monitor, In Lighter Vein, Quote Page 15, Column 8, Boston, Massachusetts. (ProQuest) ↩︎
  3. 1935 January 10, Elmira Star-Gazette, (Filler item), Quote Page 2, Column 4, Elmira, New York. (ProQuest) ↩︎
  4. 1935 August 13, The Mercury, Day By Day: Doing the Job, Quote Page 6, Column 8, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  5. 1936 February 17, Leicester Evening Mail, Quote Page 6, Column 2, Leicester, Leicestershire, England. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  6. 1940 February 5, Time, Section: Radio, Article: Apology, Quote Page 44 and 45, Column 3, Time Inc., Chicago, Illinois. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  7. 1942 October 4, The State Journal, This’n That by James B. Rhody, Start Page 1, Quote Page 4, Column 7, Frankfort, Kentucky. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  8. 1948, The Home Book of Proverbs, Maxims and Familiar Phrases, Selected and Arranged by Burton Stevenson, Topic: Business, Quote Page 260, Column 1, The Macmillan Company, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  9. 1966 December 4, Quote Magazine, Volume 52, Number 23, Quote Scrap Book: The Executive Conference by Herbert R. Spencer Jr., “The Open-Window Theory of Executive Conferences,” Dun’s Review, Quote Page 9, Column 2, Droke House Inc., Anderson, South Carolina. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  10. 1985 May 25, The Post-Star, Today in History by The Associated Press, Quote Page 18, Column 6, Glens Falls, New York. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎