William Shakespeare? William Arthur Ward? Rex Beach? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: A miscellaneous collection of lines offering advice has implausibly been attributed to the acclaimed English playwright William Shakespeare. Here are three of the lines:
Before you speak, listen.
Before you write, think.
Before you spend, earn.
The Shakespeare ascription is clearly dubious. The lines above have also been attributed to the U.S. motivational writer and epigrammatist William Arthur Ward. Would you please explore his topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1968 William Arthur Ward published a compilation his epigrams and short passages under the title “Thoughts of a Christian Optimist”. The following item was included. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Before you speak, listen.
Before you write, think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you invest, investigate.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.
Before you retire, save.
Before you die, give.
Thus, William Arthur Ward deserves credit for the aggregation above although some lines were already in circulation. This passage above was later modified, supplemented, and reassigned to William Shakespeare.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1907 “The Saturday Evening Post” published “The Madmen of the Desert” by Rex Beach which contained the following advice:2
Therefore, to those who would put money into Nevada mines there can be but one word of caution: Before you invest, investigate.
Thus, the line with the word “invest” was circulating before William Arthur Ward crafted his multipart quotation.
In November 1968 “Quote: The Weekly Digest” printed with acknowledgement the quotation from William Arthur Ward’s 1968 book “Thoughts of a Christian Optimist”.3
In 1974 the compilation “1800 Quips for Speakers and Writers” selected by E. C. McKenzie printed the passage without attribution:4
Excellent advice: Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give.
In 1977 the book “Quote Unquote” compiled by Lloyd Cory printed the passage with an attribution to William A. Ward.5
In November 2009 a tweet from @abafna contained part of the quotation which is commonly attributed to Shakespeare. In this tweet the final “e” of Shakespeare was omitted:6
Shakespear said: I always feel happy” you know why? because I dont expect anything from anyone” expectations always hurt.
In September 2010 the following message was posted to the Google Group funtastico:7
Shakespeare said: I always feel happy, You know why? Because I don’t expect anything from anyone, Expectations always hurt.. Life is short.. So love your life..
Be happy.. And Keep smiling.. Just Live for yourself and
Before you speak »Listen
Before you write »Think
Before you spend »Earn
Before you pray »Forgive
Before you hurt »Feel
Before you hate »Love
Before you quit »Try
Before you die »Live
In conclusion, William Arthur Ward deserves credit for the passage he wrote in the 1968 book “Thoughts of a Christian Optimist”. That passage was implausibly reassigned to William Shakespeare by 2010.
Image Notes: Illustration of an ear listening from geralt at Pixabay. Image has been retouched and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Eccles whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
- 1969 (1968 Copyright), Thoughts of a Christian Optimist, The Words of William Arthur Ward, Quote Page 43, Droke House Publishers, Anderson, South Carolina. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1907 July 13, The Saturday Evening Post, Volume 180, Number 2, The Madmen of the Desert by Rex Beach, Start Page 13, Quote Page 14, Column 3, The Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1968 November 24, Quote: The Weekly Digest, Volume 56, Number 21, Gem Box: Words for Living, Quote Page 407, Droke House Inc., Anderson, South Carolina. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1974 Copyright, 1800 Quips for Speakers and Writers, Compiled by E. C. McKenzie, Quote Page 31, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1977, Quote Unquote, Compiled by Lloyd Cory, Section: Preparation, Quote Page 254, Published by Victor Books: A Division of SP Publications, Wheaton, Illinois. (Verified with hardcopy) ↩︎
- X-Tweet, From: Atul Bafna @abafna, Timestamp: 11:13 PM · Nov 9, 2009, Text: Shakespear said: I always feel happy” you know why? (Accessed on x.com on May 16, 2026) link ↩︎
- Google Groups discussion message, Timestamp: Sep 3, 2010, 10:16:41 PM, Google Group name: funtastico, From: ousama bakir, Subject: Fwd: Shakespeare said, Description of Google Group: different topics regarding funny emails, files, clip, plus articles in every aspect. (Google Groups Search; Accessed May 16, 2026) link ↩︎