Quote Investigator® – Page 21

Quote Origin: Habit Is Habit, and Not To Be Flung Out of the Window By Any Man, But Coaxed Down Stairs a Step at a Time

Mark Twain? Mabel Thatcher Wellman? Ellen H. Richards? John Harvey Kellogg? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Longstanding habits are difficult to break. This notion has been expressed metaphorically as follows:

A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time.

This statement has been attributed to the famous humorist Mark Twain, but I have been unable to find a solid citation. Also, there exists a family of similar remarks with different phrasings. Variants use the words “flung”, “thrown”, and “tossed”. Were any of these remarks written or spoken by Mark Twain? Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest member of this family known to QI occurred in an installment of the serialized version of Mark Twain’s work “Pudd’nhead Wilson” which appeared in “The Century Magazine” in January 1894. The fourth chapter featured the following epigraph. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

HABIT is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed down-stairs a step at a time.—Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar.

Mark Twain used the expression again within an installment of his work titled “Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc” published in “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine” in May 1895. The narrator was a fictional version of Joan of Arc’s page and secretary:²

. . . I was resolved to face about, now, and begin over again, and never insult her more with deception. I started on the new policy by saying—still opening up with a small lie, of course, for habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed down stairs a step at a time . . .

In 1896 “Education: A Monthly Magazine” published a piece titled “The Physiological Law of Habit and Its Application To Common School Studies” by Mabel Thatcher Wellman which credited Twain with a variant expression using the word “throw”:³

As Mark Twain puts it, “No man is strong enough to throw habit out of the window, it must be coaxed step by step down stairs.” The surest way of overcoming a bad habit is to start a counter habit which, by its increasing force, makes resistance to the evil grow constantly less difficult . . .

Over the years other variants have entered circulation. These alternate versions were probably constructed based on faulty memories of Twain’s original statement.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Headline Origin: Sticks Nix Hick Pix

Variety? Abel Green? Lin Bonner? Apocryphal?

**Famous headline from the magazine “Variety”**

Question for Quote Investigator: A famous headline appeared in the U.S. show business periodical “Variety” in 1935:

STICKS NIX HICK PIX

STICKS referred to rural audiences. NIX meant reject. HICK referred to a rural theme. PIX meant a motion picture. Thus, the headline was stating that rural audiences were not going to see films with rural themes.

I have seen other versions of this headline, e.g., STIX NIX HIX PIX. The situation is perplexing. Would you please determine the precise original text together with a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Here is a sampling of close matches for this headline which have appeared over the years. The similarity of these candidates has caused confusion. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:

1935: STICKS NIX HICK PIX
1936: STIX NIX HICK PIX
1937: STIX NIX HIX PIX
1949: STIX NIX HICKS PIX
1953: STICKS NIX HICKS PICS
1955: STICKS NIX HIX PIX

The original headline appeared on the front page of “Variety” on July 17, 1935. The following was the main banner together with the subheading:¹

STICKS NIX HICK PIX
NOT INTERESTED IN FARM DRAMA

In 1935 the editor of “Variety” was Abel Green, and the person assigned to construct the headline was Lin Bonner. Green was still the editor when he wrote on the topic of authorship thirty years later in 1965. The term “streamer” meant headline:²

The story itself was anything but one of this paper’s best and Lin Bonner was assigned to come up with a lively streamer. Bonner had only just been transferred from the Hollywood to the New York staff, coming east in the hope a change of climate would help his health. After he groped half an afternoon for the right swing and size of caption this editor applied the final touch. All unanticipated, a VARIETY classic was born.

Thus, Abel Green took credit for crafting the headline although he may have received some input from Lin Bonner. Sadly, Bonner died from cancer within three weeks of the headline appearance according to Green. Thus, Bonner’s testimony remains unavailable.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Anger Is an Acid That Can Do More Harm To the Vessel In Which It’s Stored Than To Anything On Which It’s Poured

Mark Twain? Ann Landers? Turkish Proverb? Mohandas Gandhi? Seneca the Younger? Frederica Mathewes-Green? Anonymous?

**Picture of a campfire cauldron from Pixabay**

Question for Quote Investigator: Intense feelings of anger affect the body and mind negatively. This notion can be expressed metaphorically:

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.

Mark Twain, Ann Landers, and Mohandas Gandhi have received credit for this saying, but I am skeptical because I have not seen any solid citations. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has found no substantive evidence that Mark Twain employed this saying. It does not appear on the Twain Quotes website edited by Barbara Schmidt,¹ nor does it appear in the large compilation “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips” edited by Caroline Thomas Harnsberger.²

The earliest close match located by QI appeared in May 1955 within the “Daily News-Post” of Monrovia, California. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:³

Corrosive
Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it’s stored than to anything on which it’s poured.

The saying above also appeared on the same day in other newspapers such as the “San Pedro News-Pilot”⁴of San Pedro, California and the “Evening Vanguard”⁵of Venice, California. The creator was anonymous.

The central metaphor of this expression has a long history in the Turkish language. A compact instance appeared in “A Dictionary of Turkish Proverbs” compiled by Metin Yurtbaşı:⁶

Keskin sirke küpüne/kabına zarar.
Sour vinegar harms its jar.
[A bad temper harms its possessor most!]

The dictionary provided a nineteenth century citation and a twentieth century citation for this proverb in Turkish:

ÖAA 1402 < Ş 3037
Ş. = Şinasi, Durüb-ı Emsâl-i Osmaniyye (Ottoman Proverbs), Istanbul, 1863.
ÖAA = Ömer Asim Aksoy, Atasözleri Sözlüyü (Dictionary of Proverbs), Ankara, 1965.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: There’s No Point in Having Sharp Images If You’ve Got Fuzzy Ideas

Jean-Luc Godard? Ansel Adams? Richard Roud? Apocryphal?

**Blurry image of Sydney, Australia from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: When you create a photograph or film your intentions should be well defined. Here are three pertinent statements which may be grouped together:

(1) There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.
(2) There’s no point in having a sharp image if intentions are blurred.
(3) There’s no point in having sharp images if you’ve got fuzzy ideas.

This notion has been attributed to French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard and U.S. photographer Ansel Adams. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1963 the French journal “Cahiers du Cinéma” published a review by Jean-Luc Godard of recent works by the British documentary director Richard Leacock. Godard criticized Leacock’s style of cinéma-vérité because it did not embody a viewpoint or attitude. The following excerpt in French is accompanied with one possible English translation. Boldface has been added by QI:¹

Privée ainsi de conscience, la caméra de Leacock, malgré son honnêteté, perd les deux qualités fondamentales d’une caméra ; l’intelligence et la sensibilité. Rien ne sert d’avoir une image nette si les intentions sont floues. Son manque de subjectivité conduit d’ailleurs Leacock à manquer finalement d’objectivité.

Thus deprived of conscience, Leacock’s camera, for all its honesty, loses the two fundamental qualities of a camera: intelligence and sensitivity. There’s no point in having a sharp image if intentions are blurred. Indeed, Leacock’s lack of subjectivity ultimately leads to a lack of objectivity.

Godard’s analysis of Leacock’s films also included the following statements:

On peut l’expliquer facilement en disant que l’équipe de Leacock met en scène au niveau d’un Gordon Douglas, même pas d’un Hathaway ou d’un Stuart Heisler. Avec en plus ce défaut qu’ils ne savent même pas qu’ils mettent en scène, et que le reportage pur n’existe pas.

This can easily be explained by saying that Leacock’s team directs at the level of a Gordon Douglas, not even a Hathaway or a Stuart Heisler. With the added flaw that they don’t even know they’re directing, and that pure reportage doesn’t exist.

In 1968 U.S. film critic Richard Roud published “Jean-Luc Godard”. Roud was a movie enthusiast who co-founded the New York Film Festival. In his book about Godard, Roud discussed cinéma vérité, and he included a germane quotation in English attributed to Godard. No citation was specified for the commentary, but the likely source was the “Cahiers du Cinéma” passages presented previously in this article:²

The implication, of course, is that cinéma vérité does not give us the truth. It, too, is a kind of counterfeit passed off as the real thing . . . Or like Godard’s view of Richard Leacock:

“There’s no point in having sharp images if you’ve got fuzzy ideas. Leacock’s lack of subjectivity leads him ultimately to a lack of objectivity. He doesn’t even know that he is a metteur en scène, that pure reportage doesn’t exist.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: I Have Been Misquoted Everywhere, and the Inaccuracies Are Chasing Me Round the World

George Bernard Shaw? Ritchie Calder? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Prominent Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw is a misquotation magnet. Numerous remarks have been ascribed to him that he never said. Apparently, he once grumbled about being “misquoted everywhere”. He believed that the inaccuracies were chasing him around the world. Would you please help me to find a citation.

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1933 the “Daily Herald” of London printed a piece about George Bernard Shaw who complained that his recent conversation with Helen Keller had been misreported. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

“I remember meeting her in London, as they say in their attacks, at Lady Astor’s. Conversation was difficult, as you would suppose, considering that she is both blind and deaf, and everything has to be spelt out by someone else on her fingers.

“She ‘sees’ you by feeling your face. It was rather embarrassing. It would have been in the worst possible taste to ignore her condition.

“I remarked, by way of a compliment, that she was wonderful, and added, jokingly, that she could see and hear better than her countrymen who could neither see nor hear.

“Someone takes a joking remark meant in all kindness and says I insulted Helen Keller by saying, ‘All Americans are deaf and blind—and dumb—anyway.’

“I tell you I have been misquoted everywhere, and the inaccuracies are chasing me round the world.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: You May Encounter Many Defeats, But You Must Not Be Defeated

Maya Angelou? Claudia Tate? Apocryphal?

**Chessboard of defeat and victory from Unsplash**

Question for Quote Investigator: You will experience many setbacks and reversals in life, but you should never feel defeated. Encountering difficulties will help you to strengthen your power to endure and succeed. The prominent poet and memoirist Maya Angelou said something like this. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Maya Angelou spoke on this theme several times. In 1970 the “Los Angeles Times” reported on Angelou’s motivations for writing her autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

“I meant to write it to black girls, to say ‘you can win.’ But it came out the Chinese girl in Chinatown, the white girl in Texas, the farm girl In Iowa, the deb living up on the hill. All people harbor the same fears, dreams, hopes, goals.

They want to love. That is the human condition. I wanted to say to all girls, ‘You may encounter many defeats, but you just must never be defeated.’”

In 1979 the “Lexington Herald” of Kentucky presented an interview with Angelou during which she said the following:²

“Bitterness is like cancer,” said Ms. Angelou, when asked if the adversity in her early life had embittered her. “It eats away at you and doesn’t develop anything. But anger purges, and can help you.

“I believe it may be necessary to encounter many defeats,” Ms. Angelou said, “without being defeated by them. Trials shape and mold you. I think I am a result of the pressure I have endured.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: The Word ‘No’ Is a Complete Sentence

Shonda Rhimes? Carol Burnett? Jane Fonda? Anne Lamott? Megan LeBoutillier? Bil Keane? Earl Wilson? Si Cornell? Anonymous?

Sign depicting a choice between “Yes” and “No”

Question for Quote Investigator: A negative response to a request often causes dissatisfaction. Hence the request is repeated many times. Some people do not wish to accept “No” for an answer. The following adage is favored by adamant respondents:

The word “No” is a complete sentence.

This statement has been attributed to prominent U.S. television producer Shonda Rhimes, well-known U.S. comedian Carol Burnett, and popular U.S. author Anne Lamott. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in 1958 within the newspaper column of Si Cornell in “The Cincinnati Post” of Ohio. Boldface added to excerpt by QI:¹

SIGN ON BANK official’s desk: “In this office, the word NO is a complete sentence.”

The creator of this quip remains anonymous. Shonda Rhimes, Carol Burnett, Anne Lamott, and many others employed this saying after it was already in circulation.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Not a Day’s Work in All My Life. What I Have Done I Have Done, Because It Has Been Play

Mark Twain? Lawrence Pearsall Jacks? Apocryphal?

Mark Twain in academic regalia from Wikimedia Commons

Question for Quote Investigator: The famous author Mark Twain once surprisingly proclaimed that he had done “not a day’s work in all my life”. He stated that his efforts in life had “been play”. Would you please help me to find a citation for his fascinating comments?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1905 “The New York Times” published an interview with the well-known U.S. humorist under the title “Mark Twain: A Humorist’s Confession”. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Mark Twain will be 70 years old on Thanksgiving Day, and he has never done a day’s work in his life. He told me so himself, sitting in one of the cheerful, spacious rooms of the old-fashioned stately New York house which he will probably call his city home as long as he lives. I probably started upon hearing this unlooked-for statement from the lips of the good, gray humorist, for he repeated emphatically:

“No, Sir, not a day’s work in all my life. What I have done I have done, because it has been play. If it had been work I shouldn’t have done it.

“Who was it who said, ‘Blessed is the man who has found his work?’ Whoever it was he had the same idea in his mind. Mark you, he says his work—not somebody else’s work. The work that is really a man’s own work is play and not work at all. Cursed is the man who has found some other man’s work and cannot lose it. When we talk about the great workers of the world we really mean the great players of the world. The fellows who groan and sweat under the weary load of toil that they bear never can hope to do anything great. How can they when their souls are in a ferment of revolt against the employment of their hands and brains?”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Life Is Not a Journey To the Grave With the Intention of Arriving Safely

Hunter S. Thompson? Bill McKenna? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson has received credit for a remark about living an exuberant life and sliding broadside amid a cloud of smoke into the grave. I am skeptical of this ascription because I have been unable to find a solid citation. Would you please help?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has been unable to find a match in the writings of Hunter S. Thompson who ended his life in 2005.

The earliest match located by QI appeared in the Usenet newsgroup rec.autos.makers.jeep+willys in October 1998. The quotation appeared within the signature section of a message from Jeff McRae, and no attribution was listed. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, shouting “GERONIMO”.

Based on current knowledge the saying remains anonymous. Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Anecdote Origin: Everything That Can Be Invented Has Been Invented

Henry L. Ellsworth? Charles H. Duell? Roswell Park? Royal S. Copeland? Apocryphal?

**Tree representing invention from Pixabay**

Question for Quote Investigator: According to a popular legend the Commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office wanted to shut down the organization in the nineteenth century. He supposedly proclaimed:

Everything that can be invented has been invented.

The two primary candidates for the identity of the commissioner are Henry L. Ellsworth and Charles H. Duell. Yet, I have never seen a substantive citation, and I am skeptical. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Many researchers have examined this extraordinary tale, and no significant supporting evidence has been located.

Henry L. Ellsworth was the first Commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office. He submitted a report to the U.S. Congress in February 1844 summarizing the activities of the office in 1843. The report proudly described recent technological advances while highlighting the inventiveness of U.S. citizens. Yet, the report also contained the following statement which might have been the seed for this legend. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

The advancement of the arts, from year to year, taxes our credulity, and seems to presage the arrival of that period when human improvement must end.

Ellsworth’s report commented on the rapid and dazzling progress in industry, agriculture, and telecommunications. QI believes that Ellsworth was not literally suggesting an end to new inventions. Instead, he was employing a rhetorical technique of exaggeration. Nevertheless, some readers may have interpreted the comment literally. Ellsworth did leave his position in April 1845, but his letter of resignation indicated a desire to return to private life. He said nothing about shutting down the Patent Office.²

The earliest strong match for this legend located by QI appeared in the New York journal “The Electrician” in 1883. The individual who resigned was described as a principal examiner at the Patent Office and not the commissioner:³

About forty years ago, one of the principal examiners in the United States patent office, came to the mature decision that the work of the patent department must soon come to an end, because the inventive power of the human mind had reached its limit, and that there would be no further demand for new inventions. So, like a prudent man, he resigned, and engaged in portrait painting, which promised to be a good business to the end of time while vanity and funds kept company with humanity.

The marvelous growth of the American patent system is not merely the result of wise legislation, but an indication of a national trait which is doubtless the evolution of the economies rendered necessary by the privations of the early settlers of our country.

The time period referenced above was circa 1843. The delay of forty years and the lack of details reduces the credibility of this story. Note, Henry L. Ellsworth was not a portrait painter. Based on the data collected during this investigation QI believes that this tale with manifold versions is apocryphal.

Presented below are a chronological series of additional selected citations which outline the schema of the legend.