Robert Benchley? Mark Twain? Walter Winchell? Groucho Marx? Anonymous?
Dear Quote Investigator: One of the funniest quotations about writing is usually credited to the brilliant wit Robert Benchley:
It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.
I was very surprised to find the same joke attributed to Twain in the comprehensive collection “Everyone’s Mark Twain”:
After writing for fifteen years it struck me I had no talent for writing. I couldn’t give it up. By that time I was already famous!
Was this quip created by Robert Benchley, Mark Twain, or somebody else?
Quote Investigator: QI believes that this comical remark was crafted by neither Twain nor Benchley. The earliest version of the joke located by QI was about writing poetry. It was published in the humor magazine Puck in February 1912 under the title “COULDN’T AFFORD TO THEN”. The generic names SCRIBBLER and FRIEND were used to designate the speakers in a dialog: [ref]1912 February 28, Puck, Volume 71, Couldn’t Afford To Then, Unnumbered Page [Page 5 by count], Column 3, Keppler & Schwarzmann, New York. (HathiTrust)[/ref]
SCRIBBLER.—It took me nearly ten years to learn that I couldn’t write poetry.
FRIEND.—Gave it up then, did you?
SCRIBBLER.—Oh, no. By that time I had a reputation.
In March 1912 the same joke was reprinted in other periodicals with an acknowledgement to Puck, e.g., Springfield Republican of Springfield, Massachusetts, [ref] 1912 March 02, Springfield Republican, Had a Reputation, [Acknowledgement to Puck], Page 17, Column 7, Springfield, Massachusetts. (GenealogyBank)[/ref] Seattle Daily Times of Seattle, Washington, [ref]1912 March 05, Seattle Daily Times, “Couldn’t Afford to Then”, [Acknowledgement to Puck], Page 7, Column 2, Seattle, Washington. (GenealogyBank))[/ref] and The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, New Jersey. [ref]1912 March 23, Jersey Journal, “Scissorettes: Too Late.”, [Acknowledgement to Puck], Page 16, Column 4, Jersey City, New Jersey (GenealogyBank)[/ref]
In September 1912 The Independent, a weekly magazine based in New York City, printed a variant that referred to writing stories instead of poetry: [ref]1912 September 19, The Independent, [Weekly Magazine], Pebbles, [Acknowledgement to New York American], Page 679, Column 2, New York. (Google Books full view) link [/ref]
“It took me nearly ten years to learn that I couldn’t write stories.”
“I suppose you gave it up, then?”
“No, no. By that time I had a reputation.”
—New York American.
The quip was retold, and the phrasing evolved for decades, but the creator was left unnamed. The earliest connection to Mark Twain located by QI appeared in the popular newspaper column of Walter Winchell in 1946. The first known attachment of the joke to Benchley occurred in an issue of Reader’s Digest in 1949. Also, Nathaniel Benchley, the son of Robert, attributed the joke to his father in a biography he wrote in 1955. The details are provided further below.
Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Continue reading ““It Took Me Fifteen Years to Discover That I Had No Talent for Writing.” “Did You Quit?””