Quote Investigator® – Page 19

Quote Origin: Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery That Mediocrity Can Pay To Greatness

Oscar Wilde? Charles Caleb Colton? Herbert Beerbohm Tree? Punch Magazine? Dublin Monthly Magazine? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Words and deeds are imitated when they are deemed useful, popular, or admirable. However, a simulacrum is inferior when compared to the original. A wit once said:

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.

This statement has been attributed to the famous Irish author and playwright Oscar Wilde, but I have not seen a citation, and I am skeptical. Would you please trace this saying?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has found no substantive evidence that Oscar Wilde wrote or spoke this precise statement. Yet, there is testimony that Wilde employed thematically related remarks.

In 1882 Wilde attended a performance of the comic opera “Patience” by Arthur Sullivan and W. S. Gilbert. The main character Reginald Bunthorne was widely considered to be a satirical depiction of Wilde. “The Boston Daily Globe” of Massachustts reported Wilde’s reaction to the colorful character:¹

When Bunthorne walked on the stage, with his affected stride, Wilde said to Miss Gabrielle Greeley, who was one of the party in the box: “That is the homage which mediocrity pays to that which is not mediocre.”

Also, in 1882 “The New York Times” reported that Oscar Wilde delivered a lecture on the “English Renaissance” which included the following:²

“The pre-Raphaelites were a number of young poets and painters who banded together in London about 30 years since to revolutionize English poetry and painting. They had three things which the English public never forgive—youth, power, and enthusiasm.”

At this point the lecture was loudly applauded. Mr. Wilde continued: “Satire paid them the homage which mediocrity pays to genius. Their detractors blinded the public, but simply confirmed the artists in their convictions. To disagree with three-fourths of all England on all points is one of the first elements of sanity.”

Wilde’s remarks were members of a family of evolving statements with a long history. The 1842 citation below is a match for the statement in the inquiry which uses “plagiarism” instead of “imitation” and “homage” instead of “flattery”. Here is an overview with dates:

1714: Imitation is a kind of artless flattery. (The Spectator, London)

1820: Imitation is the sincerest of flattery. (Charles Caleb Colton in his book Lacon: or, Many Things In Few Words)

1842: Plagiarism is the homage that mediocrity pays to genius. (The Dublin Monthly Magazine of Ireland)

1851: Imitation is the homage which mediocrity pays to superiority. (Punch, London)

1854: Imitation is the homage that dulness pays to wit. (Punch, London)

1854: Oscar Wilde was born in October 1854.

1857: Imitation is but the sincerest form of flattery! (Punch, London)

1859: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. (The Photographic News, London)

1859: Envy is the homage which mediocrity pays to greatness. (The Edinburgh News of Scotland)

1862: Imitation is the homage that dulness pays to genius. (Punch, London)

1874: Imitation is the highest compliment mediocrity pays to genius. (The Huddersfield Examiner of England)

1879: Imitation is the flattery which mediocrity pays to genius. (Muscatine Weekly Journal of Iowa)

1879: Envy is the tribute which mediocrity pays to greatness. (The Freeman’s Journal of Dublin, Ireland)

1882: That is the homage which mediocrity pays to that which is not mediocre. (Attributed to Oscar Wilde in The Boston Daily Globe of Massachusetts. Wilde was referring to the character Bunthorne)

1882: This is one of the compliments that mediocrity pay to those that are not mediocre. (Attributed to Oscar Wilde in The Brooklyn Daily Times of New York. Wilde was referring to the character Bunthorne)

1882: Satire paid them the homage which mediocrity pays to genius. (Spoken by Oscar Wilde during a lecture reported in The New York Times. Wilde was referring to the pre-Raphaelites)

1882: Caricaturing is “the compliment which mediocrity pays to superiority” (Attributed to Oscar Wilde in The Daily Inter Ocean of Chicago, Illinois)

1884: Imitation is the sincerest form of insult. (Attributed to Oscar Wilde in Vanity Fair of London)

1884: Defamation is one of the honest tributes which mediocrity pays to success. (Morning Appeal of Carson City, Nevada)

1884: Ridicule is the homage which mediocrity pays to genius. (Attributed to Oscar Wilde in The Hamilton Literary Monthly of Utica, New York)

1884: Satire is the homage that mediocrity pays to genius. (Attributed to Oscar Wilde in The Yale Literary Magazine of New Haven, Connecticut)

1888: Imitation is the tribute which mediocrity pays to genius. (The Standard Stenographic Magazine, Iowa City, Iowa.)

1891: Imitation can be made the sincerest form of insult. (Oscar Wilde in the essay The Decay of Lying)

1893: Detraction is the only tribute which mediocrity can pay to the great. (Spoken by Herbert Beerbohm Tree during a lecture at the Royal Institute in London)

1894: He considered caricature to be the sincerest compliment that mediocrity could pay to merit. (Attributed to Oscar Wilde in The Birkenhead News of England)

1936: Caricature is the tribute which mediocrity pays to genius. (Attributed to Oscar Wilde in the book Oscar Wilde Discovers America 1882)

1999: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery mediocrity can pay to genius. (Attributed to Oscar Wilde in The Daily News Leader of Staunton, Virginia)

Details for selected citations are given below in chronological order.

Quote Origin: “Do You Think In Words or Pictures?” “I Think In Thoughts”

John Maynard Keynes? Daniel Dennett? Isaiah Berlin? Eloise Jarvis McGraw? Herman Melville? T. H. Pear? Anonymous?

The word “LOVE” and its reflection from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: Are our thoughts composed of basic elements? Do we contemplate words, pictures, video snippets, or perception patterns while cogitating?

I was reminded of this classic epistemological question by recent advancements in the field of artificial intelligence. The latest generation of systems is multi-modal. These systems can use text, images, and video as input and output.

A pertinent anecdote states that a prominent intellectual was once asked about the building blocks of thought:

“Do you think in words or pictures?”
“I think in thoughts.”

This adroit and humorous reply has been attributed to the English economist John Maynard Keynes. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: John Maynard Keynes died in 1946. The earliest attribution to Keynes located by QI appeared in the journal “Synthese” in 1982 within an article titled “How to Study Human Consciousness Empirically” by U.S. philosopher Daniel Dennett. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

John Maynard Keynes was once asked whether he thought in words or pictures. His reply, which the heterophenomenologist applauds, was “I think in thoughts”.

The accompanying footnote indicated that Dennett heard the anecdote from a prominent British historian of ideas:²

Reported to me by Isaiah Berlin, in conversation.

QI has not yet found any direct evidence that Keynes made the remark under examination. Instead, the story was relayed from Isaiah Berlin to Daniel Dennett. A 1994 citation from Berlin which is presented further below indicated that Berlin’s knowledge was indirect. He did not hear the comment directly from Keynes. Hence, the support for the attribution to Keynes is weak.

The notion that humans might “think in thoughts” instead of words has a long history. The famous U.S. novelist Herman Melville published a semi-autobiographical work titled “White Jacket or, The World In a Man-of-War” in 1850. During one scene the captain of a ship contemplated forcing crew members to shave their beards. Melville presented the interior monologue of the captain, but this passage was followed by a fascinating comment about the accuracy of such depictions:³

There is no knowing, indeed, whether these were the very words in which the Captain meditated that night; for it is yet a mooted point among metaphysicians, whether we think in words or whether we think in thoughts. But something like the above must have been the Captain’s cogitations.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Tomorrow Is the Most Important Thing. Comes In To Us At Midnight Very Clean. It’s Perfect When It Arrives

John Wayne? Peter McWilliams? Apocryphal?

Sunrise representing tomorrow from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: The famous actor John Wayne apparently spoke about the sense of renewal we experience with each new day. Metaphorically, tomorrow arrives clean and perfect. It puts itself into our hands, and hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday. Would you please help me to find a citation and the precise phrasing of this remark?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1971 an interview with John Wayne appeared in “Playboy” magazine, and the actor discussed the importance of learning from the past. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

There’s a lot of things great about life. But I think tomorrow is the most important thing. Comes in to us at midnight very clean, ya know. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.

The “Playboy” article printed the quotation twice. A streamlined version without the phrase “ya know” appeared in the caption of a photo:²

“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes in to us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Everything Negative—Pressure, Challenges—Is All An Opportunity For Me To Rise

Kobe Bryant? Hasheem Thabeet? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Facing challenges and pressures in life can be disheartening, but psychologically reframing these experiences as a catalyst for positive growth and change is useful. Confronting and overcoming negative situations provides an opportunity to rise.

Prominent U.S. basketball player Kobe Bryant said something like this. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 2005 “The Pennsylvania Celebrities Cookbook” printed a collection of recipes together with quotations from well-known individuals including this item. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

“Everything negative—pressure, challenges—is all an opportunity for me to rise.”
Kobe Bryant, Basketball Player
Philadelphia, PA

A precise citation was not provided for the quotation ascribed to Kobe Bryant. QI has located other instances crediting Bryant in 2007, 2008, and later, but none point to a specific time and place. Perhaps future researchers will improve this evidence.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: The Pun Is the Lowest Form of Humor When You Don’t Think of It First

Mary Livingstone? Oscar Levant? John Dryden? Jonathan Swift? Edgar Allan Poe? Anonymous?

Pun: Deer to be different! Picture from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: The utterance of a pun is sometimes greeted with the assertion that puns are the lowest form of humor, but a humorist once explained the true reason behind this criticism. The complainer was unable to think of the pun first. This notion has been attributed to radio comedian Mary Livingstone and concert pianist Oscar Levant? Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest close match located by QI appeared in “Liberty” magazine in 1942 within an article titled “How To Live With a Comic” by Mary Livingstone. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

This makes me realize there must be one in every family—a husband, a son, an uncle, or the handy man around the house . . . who thinks a pun is the lowest form of wit because he didn’t think of it first. That’s why I’m writing this piece—to relate my own experiences with a professional funny man so that you’ll better know how to handle your amateur funny man.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Success Is a Great Deodorant

Elizabeth Taylor? John Madden? Jason Kidd? Richard Meryman? Derek Donald? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: A person who has been ostracized can achieve rehabilitation over time. The key to this re-acceptance is the attainment of success in some endeavor. An athlete who wins a big game, an actor who stars in a popular show, an entrepreneur who builds a prosperous company are all candidates for social recovery. An adage expresses this notion. Here are five versions:

(1) There’s no deodorant like success.
(2) Success is a great deodorant
(3) Winning is a great deodorant.
(4) Winning is the best deodorant.
(5) Winning is the greatest deodorant.

This saying has been attributed to U.S. actress Elizabeth Taylor, U.S. sports commentator John Madden, and U.S. basketball player Jason Kidd. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In the early 1960s Elizabeth Taylor starred in the film “Cleopatra”. During the filming of this epic she engaged in an extramarital affair with co-star Richard Burton. Subsequently, the two divorced their spouses and married one another in March 1964. In December 1964 “LIFE” magazine printed an interview of Taylor conducted by journalist Richard Meryman. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

I have learned, however, that there’s no deodorant like success. Richard and I had been pretty scandalous and all of a sudden, after the opening night of Hamlet in New York, everybody was beaming and sighing. People that hadn’t spoken to us in two years were patting him on the back and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Without a Little Falsehood Life Would Be Impossible

Hilaire Belloc? Solomon Cohen? John Butler Yeats? Anonymous?

Street sign at the intersection of “Truth” and “Lie”

Question for Quote Investigator: Absolute candor leads to social friction, alienation, and hostility. People tell lies to avoid hurting the feelings of others. Also, people embellish the truth to construct entertaining anecdotes from humdrum events. Further, people alter the truth to avoid harsh certainties. The following controversial adage provides a justification:

Without a little falsehood life would be impossible.

Would you please explore the provenance of this saying?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1941 French-English writer Hilaire Belloc published “The Silence Of The Sea and Other Essays”. The quotation appeared within an essay titled “On Speaking Too Soon”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Telling the news, like telling any kind of truth, is dangerous and cannot be unlimited. Obviously dangerous to the man who tells the truth, but dangerous also to the community he addresses. The only practical debate in the matter is on the degree of falsehood that ought to be admitted in order that the truth shall be of value.

We are all agreed that without a little falsehood life would be impossible. Gold cannot be worked without an alloy, it is not stiff enough.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: One of the Deep Secrets of Life Is That All That Is Really Worth the Doing Is What We Do For Others

Lewis Carroll? Charles L. Dodgson? Ellen Terry? Anonymous?

Illustration depicting a gift from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: Altruists believe that the following is a deep insight about life:

What is truly worth doing is what we do for others.

Lewis Carroll, the famous creator of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” apparently said something like this. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1890 Lewis Carroll (the pseudonym of English author and mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) wrote a letter to the popular English actress Ellen Terry who had performed a favor for him. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

And so you have found out that secret — one of the deep secrets of Life — that all, that is really worth the doing, is what we do for others? Even as the old adage tells us, “What I spent, that I lost; what I gave, that I had.”

Casuists have tried to twist “doing good” into another form of “doing evil,” and have said “you get pleasure yourself by giving this pleasure to another: so it is merely a refined kind of selfishness, as your own pleasure is a motive for what you do.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Proverb Origin: There May Be Snow On the Roof, But There’s Fire In the Furnace

Groucho Marx? Caroline Newnes? Louise Manning Hodgkins? Bert Lahr? Ted Ray? John Diefenbaker? Milton Berle? Anonymous?

Snow on the roof with a fire in the hearth

Question for Quote Investigator: The emergence of grey hair is inevitable as a person ages. Yet, most senior citizens are able to maintain their energy and vitality. A family of sayings uses figurative language to reflect this viewpoint. Here are two instances:

(1) There may be snow on the roof, but there’s fire in the furnace.

(2) Just because there’s frost on the windows, it doesn’t mean that the boiler’s gone out.

Would you please explore the provenance of this family?

Reply from Quote Investigator: This metaphorical framework has been expressed in many different ways which makes it difficult to trace. Below is an overview with dates:

1899: Snow on the roof but fire on the hearth (Written about some senior attendees of a meeting of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society held in Cleveland, Ohio)

1900: Snow on Baldy’s roof, but there’s a good warm fire inside (Spoken by a U.S. veteran at a meeting held in Vermont)

1902: Snow on the roof-tree, but there’s warmth and good cheer beneath (Written by Caroline Newnes in a New York periodical)

1932: Snow on the roof, but there’s fire in the furnace (Written in a Mississippi newspaper)

1934: Snow on the roof but there is plenty of fire in the furnace (Written by a reporter attending an American Legion meeting in Texas)

1945: Snow on the roof, don’t think there’s no fire inside (Attributed to comedian Groucho Marx)

1945: Snow on the roof, don’t think there’s no fire inside (Attributed to actor Bert Lahr)

1957: Snow on the roof doesn’t mean there isn’t a warm fire in the hearth (Spoken by wife of columnist Eric Nicol)

1950s: Frost on the windows, it doesn’t mean that the boiler’s gone out (Spoken by Ted Ray)

1968: Snow on the roof but that doesn’t mean that the fire in the furnace has gone out (Spoken by former Canadian prime minister John Diefenbaker)

1989: Snow on the roof doesn’t mean there’s no fire in the house (Joke book of comedian Milton Berle)

Below are selected citations with details in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Those Who Most Dislike Puns Are Least Able To Utter Them

Edgar Allan Poe? Jonathan Swift? Mary Livingstone? Oscar Levant? H. L. Mencken? Anonymous?

Inspirational Pun: Toucan Do It. Illustration by Jean-Baptiste Oudry

Question for Quote Investigator: Creating humorous puns is difficult which may help to explain why detractors are so harsh. A wit once said:

Those who most dislike puns are least able to utter them

The master of the macabre Edgar Allan Poe said something like this. Would you please help me to find a citation and determine the precise phrasing?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1845 Edgar Allan Poe published “Marginal Notes.—No. 1” in “Godey’s Lady’s Book”. Poe was unhappy that some literary critics were attacking originality. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

All true men must rejoice to perceive the decline of the miserable rant and cant against originality, which was so much in vogue a few years ago among a class of microscopical critics, and which at one period threatened to degrade all American literature to the level of Flemish art.

Of puns it has been said that those most dislike who are least able to utter them; but with far more of truth may it be asserted that invectives against originality proceed only from persons at once hypocritical and common-place. I say hypocritical—for the love of novelty is an indisputable element of the moral nature of man . . .

So Edgar Allan Poe employed a version of the saying, but he disclaimed credit by using the phrase “it has been said”. The originator remains anonymous, but the statement may have evolved from a remark attributed to the famous Irish satirist Jonathan Swift.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.