Benjamin Franklin? Benjamin Rush? David Pitcairn? William Wadd? George G. Sigmond? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: Charlatans who provide fraudulent medical advice and dubious nostrums have afflicted humankind for centuries. Misguided patients often boost these deceivers the most. Here are two versions of a pertinent saying:
(1) There are no greater liars than quacks, except for their patients.
(2) Quacks are the greatest liars in the world, except their patients.
This saying has been attributed to U.S. statesman Benjamin Franklin, U.S. physician Benjamin Rush, and Scottish physician David Pitcairn. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: A conversation about quacks between Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin was described in a diary entry written by Rush which was dated September 22, 1788. The saying under examination was mentioned, but the attribution was anonymous. The word “liars” was spelled “lyers”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Waited upon Dr. Franklin with Doctor Thibou, of Antigua. The Dr. said few but quacks ever made money by physic, & that no bill drawn upon the credulity of the people of London by quacks, was ever protested. He ascribed the success of quacks partly to patients extolling the efficacy of the remedies they took from them, rather than confess their ignorance & credulity, hence it was justly said, “quacks were the greatest lyers in the world, except their patients.”
Rush’s 1788 diary entry appeared in “The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography” in 1905 within an article titled “Excerpts from the Papers of Dr. Benjamin Rush”. QI believes that this diary entry is credible; however, QI has not yet seen scans of the handwritten diary entry.
The passage is ambiguous, but it seems that the saying was spoken by Benjamin Franklin to Rush. The prefatory phrase “it was justly said” signaled that the attribution was anonymous.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1791 Benjamin Rush delivered a lecture at the University of Pennsylvania titled “On the Necessary Connection Between Observation and Reasoning in Medicine”. Rush criticized “empirics” who based their medical advice on hearsay and casual experience which was not grounded in scientific knowledge. Rush mentioned the saying which he gave an anonymous attribution. The word “liars” was spelled “lyars”:2
… common empirics. They cure only by chance; for, by false reasoning, they detract from the advantages of their solitary experience. It is true, they often acquire reputation and wealth, but this must be ascribed to the credulity of their patients, and to the zeal with which they justify their preference of such physicians, by multiplying and exaggerating their cures, or by palliating, or denying their mistakes. It is for this reason that it has been well said, “Quacks are the greatest lyars in the world, except their patients.”
The words above appeared in print a few years after they were spoken in the 1801 book “Six Introductory Lectures to Courses of Lectures upon the Institutes and Practice of Medicine” by Benjamin Rush M.D.
In 1802 the “Weekly Raleigh Register” of Raleigh, North Carolina skeptically mentioned the medical practice of bloodletting:3
The indisposed are persuaded that bleeding is indispensable, and because of the general prejudice in favour of it, they submit and justify the practice. Every day’s observation corroborates the justice of the remark, that “Quacks are the greatest liars in the world except their patients.”
In 1824 British surgeon and medical writer William Wadd published “Nugæ Chirurgicæ; or, A Biographical Miscellany, Illustrative of a Collection of Professional Portraits”. The entry for Scottish physician David Pitcairn stated the following:4
He was a great enemy to quackery and quacks, of whom he used to say that there were not such liars in the world, except their patients. A relation of his, one day, asking his opinion of a certain work on Fevers, he observed, “I do not like Fever curers; we may guide a Fever—we cannot cure it. What would you think of a pilot who attempted to quell a storm? Either position is equally absurd. We must steer the ship as well as we can in a storm, and in a fever we can only employ patience and judicious measures, to meet the difficulties of the case.”
In 1827 the attribution to David Pitcairn appeared in newspapers such as “The Times” of London, England5 and “The Freeman’s Journal” of Dublin, Ireland:6
Dr. Pitcairn was a great enemy to quackery and quacks, of whom he used to say that there were not such liars in the world except their patients.
In 1838 “The Lancet” medical journal printed an article by British physician George G. Sigmond based on a lecture he had delivered. Sigmond used the saying during his lecture:7
It should be remembered that quack doctors are the greatest liars in the world, excepting their patients.
The following day in 1838 “The Observer” newspaper of London credited the saying to Sigmond:8
It should be remembered that quack doctors are the greatest liars in the world, excepting their patients. — Dr. Sigmond’s Lectures.
In 1853 an article in “The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal” attributed the saying to Benjamin Rush:9
Not only have we no means of bringing quackery to this test, but, as Dr. Rush has remarked, “there are no greater liars in the world than quacks, except their patients.” They will misrepresent, either from ignorance or on purpose, both the nature and treatment of their cases. No dependence can be placed on their reports, as every physician can testify.
In 1905 Albert Henry Smyth published “The Writings of Benjamin Franklin Collected and Edited”. This book reprinted the diary entry of Benjamin Rush which described the conversation between Rush and Franklin about quacks:10
A part of Dr. Rush’s diary which for a long time has been in the Ridgway Library, Philadelphia, has recently been published in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (January 1905), and it contains some interesting notes of Dr. Franklin’s conversation. The distinguished physician naturally reported with most care the comments of Franklin upon medicine …
“Sept 22. Waited upon Dr. Franklin with Doctor Thibou of Antigua. The Dr said few but quacks ever made money by physic, and that no bill drawn upon the credulity of the people of London by quacks, was ever protested. He ascribed the success of quacks partly to patients extolling the efficacy of the remedies they took from them, rather than confess their ignorance and credulity, hence it was justly said, ‘quacks were the greatest liars in the world, except their patients.'”
In 1920 the linkage of the saying to David Pitcairn was recalled in “The Medical Pickwick: A Monthly Literary Magazine of Wit and Wisdom”:11
Dr. Pitcairn was a great enemy to quacks, of whom he used to say, that there were not such liars in the world, except their patients.
In 1939 the linkage of the saying to Benjamin Franklin was recalled in the trade journal “Hospital Topics and Buyer”:12
Down in Philadelphia you still find the ghost of old Benjamin Franklin dominating many things. It is surprising how frequently his name comes in, as a pioneer in various of the medical sciences …
He called quacks “the greatest liars in the world, except their patients,” and he exposed the quackery of mesmerism. He was also the ingenious gentleman who discovered bifocal lenses.
In 1989 “Medical Quotes: A Thematic Dictionary” included the following entry:13
Quacks are the greatest liars in the world except their patients.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) US scientist and statesman.
In conclusion, this saying was used during a conversation between Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush in 1788 according to a diary entry by Rush. However, the ascription was anonymous. Also, Rush used the saying during a lecture he gave in 1791, but Rush disclaimed credit and specified an anonymous attribution.
Image Notes: Picture of items used to care for medical patients from Kristine Wook at Unsplash. The picture has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgements: Great thanks Brian Dunning and Craig Good whose discussion thread led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Dunning mentioned the attribution to Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin.
- 1905 January, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 29, Number 1, Excerpts from the Papers of Dr. Benjamin Rush, Start Page 15, End Page 30, Diary Date: September 22, 1788, Quote Page 26, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (HathiTrust Full View) link ↩︎
- 1801, Six Introductory Lectures to Courses of Lectures upon the Institutes and Practice of Medicine by Benjamin Rush M.D. (Professor of Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania), Lecture 1: On the Necessary Connection Between Observation and Reasoning in Medicine, Lecture Date: November 7, 1791, Lecture Location: University of Pennsylvania, Start Page 7, Quote Page 16, John Conrad & Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Internet Archive) link ↩︎
- 1802 November 9, Weekly Raleigh Register, To the Bleeders by MOMUS, Quote Page 4, Column 3, Raleigh, North Carolina. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1824, Nugæ Chirurgicæ; or, A Biographical Miscellany, Illustrative of a Collection of Professional Portraits by William Wadd (Surgeon Extraordinary to the King), Topic: David Pitcairn M.D. F.R.S, Start Page 250, Quote Page 251, Printed by John Nichols and Son, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1827 April 18, The Times, (Untitled article), Quote Page 2, Column 6, London, England. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1827 April 19, The Freeman’s Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser, (Untitled Article), Quote Page 4, Column 2, Dublin, Ireland. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1838 September 15, The Lancet, Lectures on Materia Medica and Therapeutics; Now in Course of Delivery at the Windmill-Street School of Medicine by George G. Sigmond M.D., (Lecture delivered at the close of the Session), Start Page 857, Quote Page 861, Column 2, Printed for Editor Thomas Wakley by George Churchill, London. (Internet Archive) link ↩︎
- 1838 September 16, The Observer, Quackery, Quote Page 3, Column 3, London, England. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1853 July 27, The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Volume 48, Number 26, The Philosophy of Medical Delusions by J. H. Nutting M.D., Start Page 489, Quote Page 518, David Clapp Publisher, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1905, The Writings of Benjamin Franklin Collected and Edited with a Life and Introduction, Edited by Albert Henry Smyth, Volume 1, Chapter: Philosophical Works, Quote Page 116 and 117, The Macmillan Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1920 November, The Medical Pickwick: A Monthly Literary Magazine of Wit and Wisdom, Volume 6, Number 11, Pitcairn on Fever, Quote Page 401, Column 3, The Medical Pickwick Press, New York, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1939 August, Hospital Topics and Buyer, Volume 17, Number 8, Gleanings, Quote Page 9, The Hospital Buyer Company Inc., Chicago, Illinois. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1989 Copyright, Medical Quotes: A Thematic Dictionary, Edited by John Daintith and Amanda Isaacs, Topic: Quacks, Quote Page 169, Facts On File, Oxford, England. (Verified with scans) ↩︎