Will Rogers? Jack Kerouac? Joseph Gurney Cannon? G. Gordon Liddy? Anonymous?
Picture of two horses in Iceland from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: Each horse has exactly one posterior, and this fact produces a confounding paradox. Why are there more horses’ asses than horses?
This wordplay quip has been attributed to humorist Will Rogers, novelist Jack Kerouac, politician Joseph Cannon, Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy, and others. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in 1931 within the Chicago, Illinois sporting periodical “Collyer’s Eye and The Baseball World” . The joke was attributed to Joseph Gurney Cannon who served in the U.S. Congress for decades and became a powerful Speaker of the House. He died in 1926. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
… Old “Uncle Joe” Cannon’s saying, that peculiar as it may seem, “there are more horses asses in the world than horses.”
QI has not yet found any direct evidence that Cannon employed this quip although he is the leading candidate. The ascription to Will Rogers has no substantive support. Jack Kerouac did use the quip after it was already in circulation.
QI hypothesizes that the joke evolved from an earlier gag comparing the number of asses and horses.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Thomas Fuller?Saadi Shīrāzī? Moncure Daniel Conway? Anonymous?
Barbells used for weight training from Pixabay
Question for Quote Investigator: Developing knowledge and skills takes time and effort. There is no shortcut for obtaining crucial capabilities. Here is a pertinent adage:
Everything is difficult before it becomes easy.
This saying has been attributed to the 18th century British physician Thomas Fuller and the 13th century Persian poet Saadi Shīrāzī. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match known to QI appeared in the 1732 collection “Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings” compiled by Thomas Fuller. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
All things are difficult, before they are easy.
The adage has often been attributed to Thomas Fuller, and he did help to popularize the statement. However, Fuller was primarily a collector and not a crafter of sayings. The original creator remains anonymous.
QI believes that the attribution to Saadi Shīrāzī was based on a misreading of an 1874 citation. Details are given further below. Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.
William S. Burroughs?Allen Ginsberg? Sam Kashner? Apocryphal?
Group of elephants from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: Prominent authors can be ornery and unforgiving. Apparently, a well-known writer said:
Elephants and authors have long, vicious memories.
This statement has been attributed to William S. Burroughs, the controversial Beat Generation author of “Naked Lunch”, “The Ticket That Exploded”, and “Junkie”. Would you please help me to find a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: This remark appeared in a letter from William S. Burroughs to the poet Allen Ginsberg dated April 26, 1952. The letter was reprinted in the 1993 collection “The Letters of William S. Burroughs: 1945-1959”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
… Also discouraged and hurt, because of Marker and I got no relaxation, nobody to talk to. I shouldn’t be crowded like this. Elephants and authors have long, vicious memories.
In 2009 Sam Kashner published “When I Was Cool: My Life at the Jack Kerouac School: A Memoir”. Kashner described traveling in a car with Burroughs, Ginsberg, and others. Kashner ascribed the quotation to Burroughs:2
“Writers, like elephants, have long, vicious memories,” Burroughs said. “There are things I wish I could forget.”
I, on the other hand, wanted to remember everything about being in the car with these men, though how strange we must have looked to the other motorists who glanced over suspiciously at us when the traffic slowed.
In conclusion, William S. Burroughs deserves credit for this remark. He included it in a 1952 letter to his fellow Beat Generation author Allen Ginsberg.
Image Notes: Family in elephants in Addo Elephant National Park. Picture from Tobin Rogers at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to the anonymous person whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
1993, The Letters of William S. Burroughs: 1945-1959 by William S. Burroughs, Edited by Oliver Harris, Letter To: Allen Ginsberg, Letter From: William S. Burroughs, Letter Date: April 26, 1952, Start Page 122, Quote Page 123, Penguin Books USA, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
2009, When I Was Cool: My Life at the Jack Kerouac School: A Memoir by Sam Kashner, Chapter 26: Burroughs and the Box, Quote Page 155, HarperCollins Publishers, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
Diana Vreeland? Christopher Hemphill?Valerie Steele?Marion Hume?
Clothing display at a retail store from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: Apparently, a prominent fashion maven asserted that an obsession with good taste was misguided because a person with “terrible taste” could make a “damn good living” selling items.
This notion has been attributed to Diana Vreeland who was the editor-in-chief at Vogue in the 1960s. I do not recall the exact phrasing. Would you please help me to find a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1980 Diana Vreeland with Christopher Hemphill published an over-sized fashion photography book titled “Allure”. The work included extensive commentary from Vreeland. She described an encounter with a young journalist in Boston, Massachusetts in 1979. Boldface added to excepts by QI:1
In Boston a few weeks ago, I had another question thrown at me. “You see, in Boston,” the girl began, “anyone who’s well-dressed is considered in bad taste…”
Vreeland was irritated by this claim and indicated that it was a foolish viewpoint. Further, Vreeland made a provocative comment about “good taste” and “terrible taste”:
“But why do you worry about good taste?” I said. “That’s part of the problem—the worry, the eternal worry. Lots of people have terrible taste, you know, and make a damn good living off of it.”
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Diana Vreeland? Christopher Hemphill? Eleanor Dwight? Apocryphal?
Painting “The Gondola” by Frederick Walker from 1868
Question for Quote Investigator: A powerful fashion maven was asked about blue jeans, and the response was surprising:
They’re the most beautiful things since the gondola.
This remark has been attributed to Diana Vreeland who worked at “Harper’s Bazaar” from 1936 to 1963 followed by a job at “Vogue” from 1963 to 1971 where she became the editor-in-chief. Is this comment about blue jeans genuine?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1980 Diana Vreeland with Christopher Hemphill published an over-sized fashion photography book titled “Allure”. The work included extensive commentary from Vreeland. She stated that during interviews hostile journalists asked absurd questions and attempted to get her to say that fashion was dead. Boldface added to excepts by QI:1
“What do you think…of blue jeans,” they say.
Of course, they expect me to release myself and say, “Oh, they’re terrible! They’ve killed fashion!” Whereas, actually, blue jeans are the only things that have kept fashion alive because they’re made of a marvelous fabric and they have fit and dash and line…the only important ingredients of fashion.
So I always say the same thing. I say, “They’re the most beautiful things since the gondola,” and leave it at that.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Journalist Kevin Dickinson of the website Big Think interviewed me and wrote a wonderful article about quotations and misquotations. The article is titled: Einstein didn’t say that: How viral misquotes evolve and replicate. Click here to read the article.
Mary Pettibone Poole? John Lennon? Randy Pausch? William Lundigan? Anonymous?
Volcanic eruption in Iceland from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: A clever saying states that experience in life is obtained indirectly. Here are two versions:
(1) Experience is what you get while looking for something else. (2) Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.
This saying has been attributed to computer scientist Randy Pausch, aphorism collector Mary Pettibone Poole, and musician John Lennon. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest close match known to QI appeared in the “Toledo Weekly Blade” of Ohio on May 10, 1923. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Experience is what you get while you are looking for something else.
The creator was anonymous. Mary Pettibone Poole included the saying in a 1938 collection, but the saying was already in circulation. Randy Pausch included the saying in “The Last Lecture” in 2008. Pausch heard the statement while working at a videogame company. John Lennon implausibly received credit in 1997.
Steven Tyler? Keble Howard? George E. Waring Jr.? Henry Stanley Haskins?Robert Heinlein? Lord Chesterfield? Anonymous?
Painting titled “The Swing” by Jean-Honore Fragonard circa 1767
Question for Quote Investigator: The following adage celebrates enthusiasm and exuberance:
Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
This saying has been attributed to the rock star Steven Tyler and science fiction author Robert Heinlein. Would you please help me to trace this saying?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The first match known to QI appeared in an 1867 book about drainage systems by sanitary engineer George E. Waring Jr. who designed the drainage for Central Park in New York City. Waring employed the saying while suggesting that the pipes were too large in many existing systems. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
A common impression seems to prevail, that if a 2-inch pipe is good, a 3-inch pipe must be better, and that, generally, if draining is worth doing at all, it is worth overdoing; while the great importance of having perfectly fitting connections is not readily perceived. The general result is, that most of the tile-draining in this country has been too expensive for economy, and too careless for lasting efficiency.
The next match appeared in 1895 within “The Evening News” of London, England. The domain was stock market trading, and the creator was anonymous:2
Whatever is worth doing, according to the Stock Exchange, is worth overdoing, and so it came about that Canadian Pacific shares were knocked down nearly six points yesterday on a piece of news that was at any rate expected in some quarters.
In 1906 “The North Adams Transcript” of Massachusetts printed a general instance which was not tied to a specific domain:3
We are very apt, in this day and nation, to act as though we held to the principle that what is worth doing is worth overdoing. It is this passion for extremes that is involved, a passion which the Transcript has more than once referred to as perhaps the chief danger of the nation…
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Coco Chanel? Diana Vreeland? Francine du Plessix Gray? Anonymous?
Illustration of jewelry from Unsplash
Question for Quote Investigator: Statements about stylish clothing and beautiful furnishings are often opaque. Here is an example:
Elegance is refusal.
This statement has been attributed to two prominent fashion mavens: Coco Chanel and Diana Vreeland. I have never seen a solid citation. Would you please help trace this saying?
Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has found no substantive evidence that Coco Chanel employed this statement. She died in 1971 and received credit by 2000.
Diana Vreeland worked at “Harper’s Bazaar” from 1936 to 1963 followed by a job at “Vogue” from 1963 to 1971 where she became the editor-in-chief. Later she acted as a special consultant to The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In 1980 Vreeland with Christopher Hemphill published an over-sized fashion photography book titled “Allure”. The work included commentary from Vreeland about fashion. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
“Fashion is a passing thing—a thing of fancy, fantasy, and feeling. Elegance is innate. It has nothing to do with being well-dressed. It’s a quality possessed by certain thoughts and certain animals.
Vreeland mentioned two exemplars of elegance: an animal and an actress. Next, she employed the saying under examination:
So I said, “Gazelles have elegance. And Audrey Hepburn — magnificently.” Then I said something I’ve always known. I don’t know who it’s a quote from. I didn’t get it from you, shall we say, and I didn’t make it up, but I’ve known it all my life. “Elegance,” I said, “is refusal.”
Interestingly, Vreeland suggested that she was not the creator of the saying, but somehow she had known it her entire life.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Mark Twain? Will Rogers? Fred Dumont Smith? Arthur M. Pearson? Apocryphal? Anonymous?
Earth viewed by the crew of the Apollo 17 space mission
Question for Quote Investigator: The quantity of real estate is limited by the surface area of our planet. A popular wag commented about this restricted supply. Here are three versions:
(1) Buy land. They’re not making it anymore. (2) Buy land. God is not making any more of it. (3) Buy land. The good Lord stopped making it.
This notion has been credited to two famous U.S. humorists: Mark Twain and Will Rogers. Yet, I have never seen a solid citation, and I have become skeptical. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: QI and other researchers have not found any substantive evidence that Mark Twain employed this quip. The earliest match found by QI appeared in the “McCracken Enterprise” of McCracken, Kansas in October 1905. The saying was spoken by an anonymous “old gentlemen”, and the newspaper acknowledged a nearby periodical called the “Kinsley Mercury”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
An old gentleman the other day in advising a friend to buy land, said, God almighty isn’t making any more land, but he’s makin babies every mornin’.
Interestingly, Will Rogers did compose a thematically related statement about “Ocean Frontage” for his syndicated newspaper column in 1930, but the remark by Rogers was not a close match to the concise quip, and the joke was already in circulation. Details are presented further below.
This saying is difficult to trace because it can be expressed in many ways. Here is an overview depicting the evolution of the statement together with dates and ascriptions.
1905 Oct 13: Buy land … God almighty isn’t making any more land (Attributed to an old gentleman)
1905 Oct 20: Buy more land … God almighty isn’t makin’ any more land (Attributed to an old Irishman)
1916 Oct 07: Buy more land. God is not in the real estate business any more now and He is not going to make any more land (Reverend C. L. Davis)
1922 Apr 16: “God Almighty long ago stopped making Shore Lots” … Buy now, while you can (Attributed to a reverend gentleman)
1930 Apr 13: I had been putting what little money I had in Ocean Frontage, for the sole reason that there was only so much of it and no more, and that they wasent making any more (Will Rogers)
1936 Nov 12: I asked him why he continued to buy land? … “The Lord made the world and stopped making land” (Attributed to a friend)
1954 Feb 21: “Buy Land” — they ain’t making any more of that stuff (Attributed to Will Rogers)
1961 Mar 30: Buy land—they’re not making it any more (Anonymous)
1965 Aug 21: Buy land while you can — they’ve stopped making it (Anonymous)
1971 May 24: Buy land, they’ve stopped making it (Attributed to Mark Twain)
1971 Sep 19: Buy land as they’re not making any more (Attributed to Mark Twain)
1973 Mar 17: Buy land. They’ve stopped making it. (Attributed to Arthur M. Pearson)
1997 Oct 06: Buy land … “God ain’t gonna invent any more.” (Attributed to Mark Twain)
2000: Buy land! They ain’t making any more of it. (Attributed to Will Rogers)
2017: Buy land. They’re not making it anymore (Attributed to Mark Twain)
Below are details for selected citations in chronological order.
