Abraham Lincoln? W. H. Alexander? Wood Cutter? Lumberjack? Woodsman? Apocryphal? Anonymous?
Dear Quote Investigator: Rigorous preparation is the key to success for many endeavors. There is a popular saying attributed to Abraham Lincoln about planning and executing tasks. Here are three versions:
If I had four hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first two hours sharpening the axe
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend 6 of those hours sharpening my axe.
I thought trees usually required considerably less time to chop down. Also, the wide variation in the number of hours does not inspire confidence in the accuracy of these expressions. Would you please explore this topic?
Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence that Abraham Lincoln who died in 1865 made a remark of this type.
The earliest match known to QI occurred in a 1944 speech by Reverend W. H. Alexander who was the pastor of the First Christian Church of Oklahoma City. Alexander was discussing the importance of preparation. He ascribed the saying to an anonymous lumberjack. In addition, the cutting task was measured in minutes and not hours. Boldface has been added to excerpts by QI:1
On preparation he urged his hearers to study and prepare themselves, relating the instance of the lumberjack who said that if his life depended upon his ability to cut down a tree in five minutes he would spend three minutes sharpening his axe.
The first ascription to Lincoln found by QI was printed in 1960. The details are given further below. This 1960 citation also used minutes to measure time, and QI believes that instances using hours evolved from the sayings based on shorter time periods.
This exploration was performed with the help of researchers Barry Popik, Peter Reitan, and Bonnie Taylor-Blake.
Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Continue reading “Quote Origin: To Cut Down a Tree in Five Minutes Spend Three Minutes Sharpening Your Axe”