Otto von Bismarck? Abbé Correa? José Correia da Serra? French Proverb? Jean Gracieux? Marguerite de Valois? Wilhelm II? Gulian Crommelin Verplanck? Josiah Strong? Sherwood Anderson?
Question for Quote Investigator: A family of sayings asserts that specific groups benefit from supernatural protection. Here are three examples:
(1) There is a special providence for fools, children, and the U.S.
(2) God always helps fools, lovers, and drunkards
(3) Luck attends babes, fools, and drunkards.
Instances of this saying have been attributed to German statesman Otto von Bismarck and Portuguese polymath José Francisco Correia da Serra. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: This family has been evolving for hundreds of years; hence, it is a complex topic. An anonymous French instance appeared in a story by Marguerite de Valois in 1559. The United States was mentioned in an 1849 version attributed to Abbé Correa, i.e., José Correia da Serra. But he died in 1823, so this evidence was weak. Otto von Bismarck implausibly received credit for a version in 1907. Bismarck died in 1898.
Below is an overview with dates and attributions.
1559: Dieu ayde tousjours aux folz, aux amoureux et aux yvroignes
God always helps fools, lovers, and drunkards
(Attributed to Anonymous by Marguerite de Valois)
1618: Dieu ayde tousjours aux fols et aux yvrognes
God always looks after fools and drunkards
(French proverb according to Jean Gracieux)
1690: Dieu aide à trois sortes de personnes, aux fous, aux enfants, & aux yvrognes
God looks after three types of people: fools, children, and drunkards
(French proverb according to Dictionaire Universel)
1708: Dieu aide toûjours aux fous, aux amoureux, & aux ivrognes
God always helps fools, lovers, and drunkards
(Attributed to Anonymous by Marguerite de Valois)
1830: Peculiar Providence which always watches over fools and drunkards
(French proverb according to Gulian Crommelin Verplanck)
1849: The special providence over the United States and little children
(Attributed to Abbé Correa by Francis Wharton)
1869 Nov: Heaven takes care of fools and drunkards
(Proverb according to Dinah Maria Craik)
1876: The special providence over the United States and little children
(Attributed to Abbé Correa)
1879 Aug: Special Providence for children and for the United States of America
(Attributed to Abbé Correa in The New York Times)
1886: God always has a care for fools, lovers, and drunken folk
(Attributed to Anonymous by Marguerite de Valois)
1892: God takes care of idiots and of drunkards
(Proverb according to William S. Walsh)
1896: Providence takes care of idiots, drunkards, and the United States
(Attributed to Abbé Correa by Maud Wilder Goodwin)
1896 Mar: The Lord takes care of idiots, children, and the United States
(Attributed to Josiah Strong by Laura Potter Gregory)
1907: God always looks after the fools and — and the United States
(Attributed to Otto von Bismarck by Herbert H. Sargent)
1918 Oct: Luck that is said to attend babes, fools and drunkards
(Anonymous)
1923 Mar: God is good to fools and drunkards
(Sherwood Anderson)
1967 Nov: God watches over fools, drunkards and organized baseball
(Jim Murray)
1972 Aug: God looks after fools, drunkards and the United States of America
(Attributed to Kaiser Wilhelm II)
2015: God looks after fools, drunkards and the United States of America
(Attributed to Otto von Bismarck by Paul Greenberg)
Below are details for selected citations in chronological order.
In 1559 “L’Heptaméron” by Marguerite de Valois, Queen of Navarre, was published posthumously. One of the tales featured a character named Guebron who mentioned the saying. The French text below is followed by an English translation. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
N’avez-vous pas oy dire, dist Geburon, que Dieu ayde tousjours aux folz, aux amoureux et aux yvroignes ? Peut estre que cestuy-là estoit luy seul tous les trois ensemble.
“Have you not heard it said,” asked Geburon, “that God always helps fools, lovers, and drunkards? Perhaps this man was all three rolled into one.”
The excerpt above is from a scholarly edition of “L’Heptameron” published in 1960 based primarily on the 1559 edition published by Claude Gruget.
In 1618 the French comedian Jean Gracieux (stage name Bruscambille) published a collection of ribald theatrical speeches under the title “Les Fantaisies de Bruscambille”. Gracieux labeled the saying a “petit proverbe” (“little proverb”):2
… le petit proverbe contraindra le ciel à se rendre partisan avec nous et solliciteur de nostre cause, car Dieu ayde tousjours aux fols et aux yvrognes, à plus forte raison à ceux qui sont l’un et l’autre …
… that little proverb will compel Heaven to take our side and champion our cause, for God always looks after fools and drunkards—and all the more so those who are both at once …
In 1690 “Dictionaire Universel” (“Universal Dictionary”) compiled by the late Antoine Furetière contained an entry for “Fou” (“Fool”) which listed various proverbs:3
Fou, se dit proverbialement en ces phrases. …
Dieu aide à trois sortes de personnes, aux fous, aux enfants, & aux yvrognes.
Il ya plus de fous vendeurs que de fous acheteurs.The word “fool” appears in several proverbial expressions …
“God looks after three types of people: fools, children, and drunkards.”
“There are more fools selling than there are fools buying.”
In 1708 another edition of “L’Heptameron” appeared under the title “Contes et Nouvelles De Marguerite de Valois, Reine De Navarre” (“Tales and Short Stories by Margaret of Valois, Queen of Navarre”). The French phrasing and spelling of the saying was updated to fit the contemporary style:4
N’avez-vous pas entendu dire, dit Guebron, que Dieu aide toûjours aux fous, aux amoureux, & aux ivrognes?
“Haven’t you heard it said,” said Guebron, “that God always helps fools, lovers, and drunkards?”
In 1830 a collection of stories by U.S. writers appeared which included “The Peregrinations of Petrus Mudd” by Gulian Crommelin Verplanck which contained the following excerpt:5
That peculiar Providence which the French proverb truly says, always watches over fools and drunkards, brought him in safety to Rome; and there he fell in my way, in the manner already related.
In 1849 Francis Wharton published “State Trials of the United States During the Administrations of Washington and Adams”. Wharton attributed a version of the saying which mentioned the United States to Abbé Correa, i.e., José Correia da Serra:6
Were it not for this torpid ductility, this self-abandonment to what Correa called “the special providence over the United States and little children,” the accidents of a young government, like the accidents of a young child, would be fearfully accumulated. That indisposition to resist or struggle, which permits a drunken man to roll down stairs unhurt, where a man in full health would be bruised and broken, is the great safety-guard of a newly made government.
In November 1869 “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine” printed a chapter from the story “A Brave Lady” by Dinah Maria Craik which included an instance of the saying:7
There is a proverb which sometimes seems amazingly true, that “Heaven takes care of fools and drunkards.”
In 1876 an article in “The North American Review” attributed the saying to Abbé Correa:8
Such confidence in what the Abbé Correa, with more good-humor and more wit than Dr. v. Holst, used to call “the special providence over the United States and little children,” appears of late to have been more or less abandoned by sensible Americans …
In 1879 an article in “The New York Times” credited the saying to Abbé Correa:9
The Abbé Correa de Serra, one of the wittiest and acutest observers who have ever visited this country, said that there was a special Providence for children and for the United States of America. It is true, and it is the same Providence for both—the Providence of youth, vigor, elasticity, unexhausted powers—so that mistakes are repaired. and accidents which would be calamities to old age are only trivial incidents.
In 1886 an English translation of “L’Heptaméron” appeared under the title “The Heptameron, or Tales and Novels of Marguerite, Queen of Navarre”. The book contained the following passage:10
“Have you not heard,” said Geburon, “that God always has a care for fools, lovers, and drunken folk; perchance this rich man of Paris was all three together.”
In 1892 the “Handy-Book of Literary Curiosities” by William S. Walsh contained the following version of the saying:11
The widely-diffused proverbs “Fortune favors fools” and “God takes care of idiots and of drunkards” are not dissimilar.
In 1896 Maud Wilder Goodwin published a biography of “Dolly Madison”. Godwin credited Abbé Correa with a three-part version of the saying:12
… the epigrams of the Abbe Correa, Minister to this country from Portugal, in 1816. He it was who called Washington “the City of Magnificent Distances,” and said that “Providence takes care of idiots, drunkards, and the United States.”
In March 1896 “The American Monthly Magazine” published a piece by Laura Potter Gregory which contained a version of the saying with “Lord”:13
Josiah Strong says we have fallen into a way of saying, “The Lord takes care of idiots, children, and the United States,” and sometimes perhaps we think and teach that the raw recruit who faced undaunted the fire of regulars was a special gift of God to that age or a sporadic case in the evolution of humanity.
In 1907 Herbert H. Sargent published “The Campaign of Santiago de Cuba”. Sargent attributed the saying to Otto von Bismarck. The word “and” appeared twice in this version of the saying:14
When it is remembered that in this campaign the United States won a glorious victory far-reaching in its results, in spite of a lack of proper and timely preparation, in spite of the small size of the invading army and the overwhelming numbers of the enemy, in spite of the tropical rains, the withering heat, the deadly fevers, and the desperate resistance offered by the Spaniards on the battlefield, one is almost tempted to exclaim with Bismarck that “God always looks after the fools and — and the United States.”
In 1918 a newspaper in Little Rock, Arkansas printed an advertisement which contained a version of the saying with the word “luck”:15
On Saturday afternoon, about 1 o’clock, two young men in a big car sailed along Capitol avenue toward the State capitol at the rate of fully 30 miles an hour. On an east and west street they did not have the right of way and they got through without accident by the sort of luck that is said to attend babes, fools and drunkards.
In 1923 literary figure Sherwood Anderson published a story titled “Broken” in “The Century Magazine” which contained the following:16
“He had gone about all over town, into saloons, asking men, ‘Are you Murdock?’ God is good to fools and drunkards.”
In 1967 syndicated columnist Jim Murray published a version which mentioned baseball:17
… there are those who think God watches over fools, drunkards and organized baseball …
In 1972 an editorial in the “Eugene Register-Guard” of Eugene, Oregon tentatively credited an instance to Kaiser Wilhelm II:18
The venerable Bartlett’s Quotations calls it only an unattributed epigram, but some credit it to Kaiser Bill. It’s not flattering, but it applies in some awkward cases, as the current vice presidential discussion continues: God looks after fools, drunkards and the United States of America.
In 2015 a newspaper in Daytona Beach, Florida attributed the saying to Otto von Bismarck:19
But never bet against this country. Or as Bismarck once observed, God looks after fools, drunkards and the United States of America.
In conclusion, the first instance in this family of sayings found by QI appeared in “L’Heptaméron” by Marguerite de Valois in 1559. The phrasing signaled that the saying was already circulating; hence the creator remains anonymous. This family has been evolving for centuries. Children were mentioned in a version printed in “Dictionaire Universel” in 1690.
The United States was mentioned in a version attributed to Abbé Correa in 1849, but this date was more than two decades after his death. Otto von Bismarck received credit in 1907, but this was a decade after his death. Neither of these attributions is well supported.
Image Notes: Illustration of two fools embracing from OpenClipart-Vectors at Pixabay.
Acknowledgements: Great thanks to Ken Hirsch, Fred R. Shapiro, Barry Popik, Robin Hamilton, Denkof Zwemmen, Fake History Hunter, PancreasNo, and Keiran Gorsky whose research, discussion, and inquiries led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
- 1960 (Source text 1559), L’Heptameron by Marguerite de Navarre, (Scholarly edition primarily based on 1559 edition published by Claude Gruget), (Introduction, notes, and index by Michel François), Quatriesme Journée (Fourth Day), Trente Huictiesme Nouvelle (Thirty-Eighth Tale), Start Page 270, Quote Page 272, Éditions Garnier Frères, Paris. (Google Books Preview) ↩︎
- 1618, Les Fantaisies de Bruscambille, contenant plusieurs discours, paradoxes, harangues et prologues facecieux (The Fantasies of Bruscambille, containing various discourses, paradoxes, harangues, and droll prologues), (by Jean Gracieux), Seconde Harangue de Midas, Quote Page 18, Jouxte La Copie Imprimée A Paris, A Lyon, France. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1690, Dictionaire Universel, Contenant generalement tous les mots François tant vieux que modernes, et les Termes de toutes les Sciences et des Arts, (Universal Dictionary, generally containing all French words—both old and modern—as well as the terminology of all the sciences and arts), Recueilli & compilé par feu Messire Antoine Furetiere, Abbé de Chalivoy, de l’Academie Françoise (Collected & compiled by the late Sir Antoine Furetière, Abbot of Chalivoy, of the French Academy), Tome Second (Volume 2): F to O, Entry: Fou, Unnumbered Page, Chez Arnout & Reinier Leers, A La Haye, et A Rotterdam. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1708, Contes Et Nouvelles De Marguerite de Valois, Reine De Navarre, (Tales and Short Stories by Margaret of Valois, Queen of Navarre), Mis en beau langage, accommodé au goût de ce tems: & enrichis de Figures en Taille douce, (Expressed in elegant language, adapted to the taste of the present day, and enriched with copperplate illustrations), Tome Second (Volume 2), Chapter 38 Nouvelle: Memorable charité d’une femme de Tours à l’égard de son Epoux infidéle (Short Story: The memorable charity of a woman from Tours toward her unfaithful husband), Quote Page 44, Chez George Gallet, A. Amsterdam. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1830, Stories of American Life by American writers, Edited by Mary Russell Mitford, Volume 3 of 3, The Peregrinations of Petrus Mudd (by Gulian Crommelin Verplanck), Start Page 33, Quote Page 66, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1849, State Trials of the United States During the Administrations of Washington and Adams by Francis Wharton, Section: Preliminary Notes: Administrations of Washington and Adams, Quote Page 4, Carey and Hart, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1869 November, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Volume 39, Number 234, A Brave Lady by Dinah Maria Craik (Serialization), Chapter 10, Quote Page 832, Column 1, Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1876 October, The North American Review, Volume 253, Article: Von Holst’s History of the United States, Start Page 328, Quote Page 332, James R. Osgood, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1879 August 3, The New York Times, The Political History of the United States, Quote Page 8, Column 1, New York. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1886, The Heptameron, or Tales and Novels of Marguerite, Queen of Navarre, Day the Fourth, Novel XXXVIII, How a woman returned good for evil, and so won back her husband, Start Page 242, Quote Page 243, Privately Printed. (Internet Archive at archive.org) link ↩︎
- 1892 Copyright, Handy-Book of Literary Curiosities by William S. Walsh, Quote Page 420, J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Republished by Gale Research Company, Detroit, Michigan. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1896, Dolly Madison by Maud Wilder Goodwin, Chapter 10: Peace, Quote Page 196, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1896 March, The American Monthly Magazine, Volume 8, Number 3, The First Battle and Its Legacy by Laura Potter Gregory (Rockford Chapter, Rockford Illinois), Start Page 295, Quote Page 300, National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, Washington D.C. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1907, The Campaign of Santiago de Cuba by Herbert H. Sargent, Volume 1 of 3, Chapter 6: The Resources, the Armies, and the Coast Defences, Quote Page 105, A. C. McClurg & Company, Chicago, Illinois. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1918 October 25, The Pulaskian, (Advertisement for Little Rock Railway & Electric Company), Quote Page 5, Column 5, Little Rock, Arkansas. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1923 March, The Century Magazine, Volume 105, Number 5, Broken by Sherwood Anderson, Start Page 643, Quote Page 646, Column 1, The Century Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1967 November 8, Reno Evening Gazette, Jim Murray, Quote Page 46, Column 1, Reno, Nevada. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 1972 August 6, Eugene Register-Guard, If only the fools and drunkards were lucky, Quote Page 14A, Column 1, Eugene, Oregon. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
- 2015 October 21, The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Acknowledging simple truths by Paul Greenberg, Quote Page A4, Column 5, Daytona Beach, Florida. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎