Quote Investigator® – Page 2 – Tracing Quotations

Adage Origin: Whatever Is Worth Doing Is Worth Overdoing

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.

Quote Origin: Elegance Is Refusal

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.

Quip Origin: Buy Land; They’re Not Making It Anymore

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.

Quote Origin: With My Death I Am Just As Much Obliterated As the Last Mosquito You or I Smashed

Jack London? Charmian London? Apocryphal?

**Portrait of Jack London and an illustration of a mosquito**

Question for Quote Investigator: The U.S. writer Jack London is best known for the novel “The Call of the Wild” and the short story “To Build a Fire”. Apparently, London adhered to a materialistic philosophy, and he was skeptical of an afterlife. When describing the end of life he used a vivid analogy to a smashed mosquito. Would you please help me to find his precise quotation together with a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Jack London died in 1916. In 1921 his wife, Charmian London, published “The Book of Jack London” which included an excerpt from a letter that he wrote to a friend on June 25, 1914. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

“. . . I have always inclined toward Haeckel’s position. In fact, ‘incline’ is too weak a word. I am a hopeless materialist. I see a soul as nothing else than the sum of the activities of the organism plus personal habits, memories, experiences, of the organism. I believe that when I am dead, I am dead. I believe that with my death I am just as much obliterated as the last mosquito you or I smashed.”

“I have no patience with fly-by-night philosophers such as Bergson. I have no patience with the metaphysical philosophers.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: The Know-Nothings Are, Unfortunately, Seldom the Do-Nothings

Mignon McLaughlin? William Butler Yeats? Bertrand Russell? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: The present state of the world might be best explained with the following acerbic remark:

The know-nothings of the world are, regrettably, not the do-nothings.

I am not sure of the original phrasing. Would you please help me to trace this saying and determine the originator?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in “The Neurotic’s Notebook” by Mignon McLaughlin who was a journalist, a magazine editor, and an aphorist. Here are three items from the book. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

The know-nothings are, unfortunately, seldom the do-nothings.

What you have become is the price you paid to get what you used to want.

It is romantic to expect that things will get better, cynical to suppose that they will not, bestial not to care.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Anecdote Origin: Will You Have Sugar and Cream in Your Nose?

John Pierpont Morgan? Elizabeth Cutter Morrow? Anne Morrow Lindbergh? Mary Roberts Rinehart? Art Arthur? O. O. McIntyre? Apocryphal?

**Picture of a teapot and teacup from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: An embarrassing incident occurred when a famous U.S. financier visited the home of a popular hostess. The financier had an obtrusive bulging nose, and the hostess had a young child who was inquisitive and outspoken. The child was carefully told not to make any comments about the nose.

During the visit the youngster was well-behaved and said nothing discomfiting. However, after the child was dismissed the relieved hostess began to serve beverages and said to the financier: “Would you like cream or lemon in your nose?”

According to legend the financier was John Pierpont Morgan, the hostess was Elizabeth Cutter Morrow, and the child was Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Is this anecdote grounded in truth?

Reply from Quote Investigator: John Pierpont Morgan died in 1913. The earliest match for this tale located by QI appeared in a piece by U.S. writer Mary Roberts Rinehart published in “The Saturday Evening Post” in 1928. Rinehart did not precisely identify either the financier or the hostess. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Sometimes I feel as distracted as the small boy’s mother, when a great financier was coming to Sunday luncheon. Now this financier had a very large and bulbous nose, and Johnnie was warned neither to stare at it nor to mention it. Nor did he, but when the coffee came on and Johnnie was finally excused, his distracted mother turned to the guest and said:

“Mr. Blank, will you have sugar and cream in your nose?”

QI does not know whether Rinehart was presenting a fictional scenario. In most later versions of this story the child was a daughter instead of a son. A denial of the anecdote by Anne Morrow Lindbergh was printed in “The New Yorker” magazine in 1999. See the citation given further below.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: I Would Rather Have Questions That Can’t Be Answered Than Answers That Can’t Be Questioned

Richard Feynman? Daniel Dennett? J. J. Hahn? Arthur
Bloch? Apocryphal? Anonymous?

**An island with foliage shaped like a question mark from Pixabay**

Question for Quote Investigator: Here are two instances from a family of sayings about questions and answers:

(1) Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned.

(2) I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers which can’t be questioned.

The first item has been attributed to the prominent philosopher Daniel Dennett, and the second item has been credited to the notable theoretical physicist Richard Feynman. I have been unable to find solid citations, and I have become skeptical. Would you please help me to trace these sayings?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Daniel Dennett did include the first saying above in his 2006 book “Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon”; however, Dennett specified an anonymous attribution, and the saying was already in circulation by 1995.

QI and other researchers have not found any substantive evidence that Richard Feynman employed the second saying above. Feynman died in 1988, and he received credit by 2014. QI conjectures that the second saying evolved from the first saying.

The earliest match for the first saying located by QI appeared in the Usenet newsgroup alt.atheism on January 16, 1995 within a message posted by J. J. Hahn whose e-mail address indicated an affiliation with the University of Minnesota. Hahn placed the saying in a signature block; hence, it occurred in many of their messages. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Philosophy is questions that may never be answered.
Religion is answers that may never be questioned.

J. J. Hahn is the primary candidate for creator of this saying although it is possible Hahn was simply repeating an expression that was already circulating.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: A Work of Art That Contains Theories Is Like an Object on Which the Price Tag Has Been Left

Marcel Proust? Alexander Pope? Frederick A. Blossom? Sydney Schiff? Apocryphal?

**Illustration of a price tag from Pixabay**

Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent literary figure disapproved of intellectual works filled with abstract discourse and archetypal characters. The critique was expressed as follows:

A work of art that contains theories is like an object on which the price tag has been left.

This statement has been attributed to the French novelist Marcel Proust and the English poet Alexander Pope? Would you please help me to determine the correct author together with a solid citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has found no substantive evidence supporting the ascription to Alexander Pope who died in 1744.

Marcel Proust is best known for the multivolume work “A la recherche du temps perdu” (“Remembrance of Things Past” or “In Search of Lost Time”). The seventh and final volume in this series was “Le Temps retrouvé” (“Time Regained” or “Finding Time Again”) published in 1927 which contained the following passage:¹

D’où la grossière tentation pour l’écrivain d’écrire des œuvres intellectuelles. Grande indélicatesse. Une œuvre où il ya des théories est comme un objet sur lequel on laisse la marque du prix. Encore cette dernière ne fait-elle qu’exprimer une valeur qu’au contraire en littérature le raisonnement logique diminue.

Below is a translation by Frederick A. Blossom from an edition published in 1932:²

From this comes the vulgar temptation for the writer to write intellectual works. A grave lack of fine feeling! A book in which there are theories is like an article from which the price mark has not been removed. And even at that, a price mark merely expresses value, whereas in literature logical reasoning lessens it.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: The Hottest New Programming Language Is English

Andrej Karpathy? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: The capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) systems have dramatically improved in recent years. One important challenge for AI has been the synthesis of computer programs based on English language descriptions. Apparently, a prominent AI researcher said:

The hottest new programming language is English

Would you please help me to find a citation for this remark?

Reply from Quote Investigator: On January 24, 2023 AI researcher Andrej Karpathy tweeted the following. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

The hottest new programming language is English

Andrej Karpathy is best known for co-founding the OpenAI company and working on computer vision for the autopilot system at Tesla.

In conclusion, Andrej Karpathy deserves credit for this statement which he tweeted in 2023.

Image Notes: Screen displaying computer code. The image has been cropped and resized.

Social Network: X/Twitter, Handle: Andrej Karpathy @karpathy, Timestamp: 3:14 PM – Jan 24, 2023. link ↩︎

Quote Origin: The Important Thing Is Not to Stop Questioning. Curiosity Has Its Own Reason for Existence

Albert Einstein? William Miller? Apocryphal?

**Illustration of the James Webb Space Telescope from NASA**

Question for Quote Investigator: A famous scientist once stated that it was important to never stop questioning because curiosity has it own reason for existing. I do not recall the exact phrasing. This notion has been attributed to physicist Albert Einstein. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: “LIFE” magazine editor William Miller visited Albert Einstein at his home in Princeton, New Jersey and interviewed him. Miller’s piece appeared in the May 2, 1955 issue of “LIFE” shortly after Einstein’s death in April 1955. Miller asked Einstein about curiosity. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend only a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.