Quote Origin: The Young Man Knows the Rules, But the Old Man Knows the Exceptions

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Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.? Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.? Clinton Cushing? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Young people emerging from rigorous training are familiar with the rules of their professions, but it takes time and practical experience to recognize and adapt to the exceptions to these rules. A sage once said the following:

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.

This remark has been credited to the influential U.S. physician Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. and the prominent U.S. Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Would you please help me to find a citation to resolve this ambiguity?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In March 1871 Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. delivered the valedictory address to the graduating class of the Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York. The text of his speech was printed in “The New York Medical Journal” in April 1871. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions. The young man knows his patient, but the old man knows also his patient’s family, dead and alive, up and down for generations.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. deserves credit for the expression under examination. During subsequent years the attribution specified was often ambiguous. In 1981 the statement was incorrectly credited to the famous jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Below are selected citations in chronological order.

In July 1871 Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.’s valedictory address was reprinted in the “Edinburgh Medical Journal” of Scotland. Thus, the quotation achieved further distribution.2

In 1883 Clinton Cushing delivered the valedictory address to the graduating class of the Cooper Medical College (later Stanford University Medical School) in California. Cushing attributed the quotation to an unnamed “talented man”:3

As a talented man once wrote: “The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions. The young man knows his patient, but the old man knows also his patient’s family, dead and alive, up and down for generations.”

In 1891 the valedictory address by Holmes was reprinted in the ninth volume of a collection titled “The Writings of Oliver Wendell Holmes”. Thus, the quotation continued to circulate.4

In 1906 a newspaper in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada printed the quotation together with miscellaneous sayings under the title “Gleanings”. The quotation was credited to “O. W. Holmes”; however, this attribution was ambiguous because both the father and son were prominent in 1906:5

The young man knows the rules—but the old man knows the exceptions! New ideas build their nests in young men’s brains. Revolutions are not made by men in spectacles. — O. W. Holmes.

In 1933 the “New York American” newspaper of New York City printed the following. The ellipses were in the original text:6

Just sixty years ago, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, father of the retired Chief Justice, gave an almost similar address at Bellevue College Hospital. He remarked:

“See a wise old physician smile away a case that looks to a novice as if a sexton should be sent for; mark what a large experience has done for those who were fitted to profit by it… The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions… He takes things more quietly and is much more willing to let well enough alone.”

In 1960 “The Norfolk Daily News” of Nebraska printed the quotation under the title “Borrowed Thoughts”. The accompanying attribution was ambiguous:7

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions. — Oliver Wendell Holmes.

In 1981 “The Sunday Ledger-Enquirer” of Columbus, Georgia incorrectly attributed the quotation to the jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. instead of the physician Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.:8

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, famed justice-author: “The young man knows the rules, the old man knows the exceptions.”

Also, in 1981 “The Fitzhenry & Whiteside Book of Quotations” specified the correct attribution:9

The young man knows the rules but the old man knows the exceptions.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

In 1998 “Webster’s New World Dictionary of Quotations” presented an ambiguous attribution:10

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

In 2005 “The Salt Lake Tribune” of Utah printed an incorrect ascription:11

The young man knows the rules, said Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, but the old man knows the exceptions.

In 2008 the “Sioux City Journal” of Iowa printed an incorrect ascription:12

Today’s Quote
The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Supreme Court Justice
(1841-1935)

In 2011 the “Record-Courier” of Ravenna, Ohio printed an incorrect attribution:13

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

In conclusion, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. deserves credit for this quotation which he employed during a speech in 1871. The incorrect attribution to Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. appeared many years later in 1981.

Image Notes: Public domain portraits of Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. The images have been cropped and resized.

Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Barry Ritholtz whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.

  1. 1871 April, The New York Medical Journal, Volume 13, Number 4, Valedictory Address delivered to the Graduating Class of the Bellevue Hospital College March 2, 1871 by Oliver Wendell Holmes MD (Parkman Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the Medical School of Harvard University), Start Page 420, Quote Page 426, D. Appleton and Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  2. 1871 July, Edinburgh Medical Journal, Periscope, (Extracts from a graduation address by Oliver Wendell Holmes), Start Page 82, Quote Page 85, Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, Scotland. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  3. 1884 March, The Western Lancet: A Journal of Medicine and Surgery, Volume 13, Number 3, Valedictory Address Delivered at the Second Annual Commencement of Cooper Medical College on November 6, 1883 by Clinton Cushing MD (Professor of Gynecology), Start Page 97, Quote Page 102, Joseph Winterburn, San Francisco, California. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  4. 1891, The Writings of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Volume 9 of 13, Medical Essays 1842-1882, Chapter 7: The Young Practitioner, (A Valedictory Address delivered to the Graduating Class of the Bellevue Hospital College on March 2, 1871), Start Page 370, Quote Page 377, Riverside Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  5. 1906 May 30, Chilliwack Progress, Gleanings, Quote Page 2, Column 2, Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  6. 1932 January 18, New York American, Country Medicos, Quote Page 10, Column 1, New York, New York. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎
  7. 1960 April 7, The Norfolk Daily News, Borrowed Thoughts, Quote Page 16, Column 2, Norfolk, Nebraska. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  8. 1981 November 8, The Sunday Ledger-Enquirer, Quotable, Quote Page B3, Column 4, Columbus, Georgia. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  9. 1981, The Fitzhenry & Whiteside Book of Quotations, Edited by Robert I. Fitzhenry, Section: Aging and Old Age, Quote Page 17, Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, Toronto. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  10. 1998, Webster’s New World Dictionary of Quotations by Auriel Douglas and Michael Strumpf, Topic: Children, Quote Page 90, Macmillan General Reference, A Simon & Schuster: Macmillan Company, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  11. 2005 August 20, The Salt Lake Tribune, Serving two masters – THE TETRIS GROUP County deserves undivided loyalty from lobbyist, Section: Opinion, Quote Page A10, Salt Lake City, Utah. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩︎
  12. 2008 July 6, Sioux City Journal, Today’s Quote, Quote Page A8, Column 1, Sioux City, Iowa. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  13. 2011 July 24, Record-Courier, Quote of the Day, Quote Page A4, Column 2, Ravenna, Ohio. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎