Quote Investigator® – Page 3 – Tracing Quotations

Quote Origin: People Do Not Stop Playing Because They Grow Old; They Grow Old Because They Stop Playing

Herbert Spencer? G. Stanley Hall? Karl Groos? George L. Knapp? George Bernard Shaw? Anonymous?

Illustration of young people playing from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: Children enjoy playing, yet this rambunctious and exploratory spirit often fades with age. The following adage encourages the retention of a youthful temperament. Here are four versions:

(1) People do not cease playing because they grow old, but they grow old because they cease playing.
(2) We do not so much quit playing because we grow old, as grow old because we quit playing.
(3) We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.
(4) People grow old because they stop playing, and not conversely.

The first three sayings above employ a rhetorical device called antimetabole. Words in the first half of the statement are reordered in the second half.

This notion has been attributed to English polymath Herbert Spencer, U.S. psychologist G. Stanley Hall, German philosopher Karl Groos, and Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI believes that this family of sayings evolved over time. The earliest strong match found by QI appeared in the 1904 book “Adolescence: Its Psychology and Its Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion and Education” by G. Stanley Hall. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

. . . men grow old because they stop playing, and not conversely . . .

QI has not found any substantive evidence that Herbert Spencer employed this saying. He died in 1903, and he received credit by 1915.

QI has not found any substantive evidence that George Bernard Shaw employed this saying. He died in 1950, and he received credit by 1983.

Karl Groos penned a closely related remark which inspired Hall to craft his remark. Details are presented below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: I Am Not Innarested In Your Horrible Disease

William S. Burroughs? Kenneth Turan? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: The transgressive Beat Generation author William Burroughs once wrote something like the following:

I am not innarested in your horrible disease.

I recall reading this many years ago. The word “interested” was deliberately written with the nonstandard spelling “innarested”. Maybe my memory is flawed because I have been unable to trace this statement. Would you please help me to find a precise citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1959 William S. Burroughs published “Naked Lunch” which included the following pertinent passage spoken by a character in the novel. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

“Sick people disgust me already. When some citizen start telling me about his cancer of the prostate or his rotting septum make with that purulent discharge I tell him: ‘You think I am innarested to hear about your horrible old condition? I am not innarested at all.’”

QI believes that the statement in the inquiry was derived from the two highlighted sentences in “Naked Lunch” via an imperfect memory.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: We Learn From History That We Do Not Learn From History

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel? Aldous Huxley? George Bernard Shaw? Henry Tizard? Caroline Thomas Harnsberger? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: The historical record displays clear patterns, yet there is enormous resistance to learning from these patterns. Here are two versions of a humorously contradictory adage:

(1) We learn from history that we do not learn from history.

(2) We learn from experience that people never learn anything from experience.

This notion has been attributed to German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, English writer Aldous Huxley, and Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Would you please help me to find solid citations?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In the early decades of the 1800s Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel delivered a series of lectures which were collected and published posthumously under the title “Vorlesungen über die Philosophie der Geschichte” (“Lectures on the Philosophy of History”). The 1837 edition contained the following passage. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

Man verweist Regenten, Staatsmänner, Völker vornehmlich an die Belehrung durch die Erfahrung der Geschichte. Was die Erfahrung aber und die Geschichte lehren ist dieses daß Völker und Regierungen niemals etwas aus der Geschichte gelernt und nach Lehren, die aus derselben zu ziehen gewesen wären, gehandelt hätten.

Here is one possible translation into English:

Rulers, statesmen and peoples are primarily referred to the lessons of historical experience. But what experience and history teach is that nations and governments have never learned anything from history and have never acted in accordance with the lessons that could have been drawn from it.

The popular modern saying under examination is a condensed and simplified version of the statement crafted by Hegel before his death in 1831.

Aldous Huxley and George Bernard Shaw both penned statements in this family of sayings which are presented further below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Those Who Cannot Remember the Past Are Condemned To Repeat It

George Santayana? Edmund Burke? Winston Churchill?

Metaphorical representation of the transience of historical knowledge from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: The study of history teaches vital lessons; however, those lessons are often unheeded. Here are five versions of a popular adage:

(1) Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

(2) Those who do not learn from the experience of history are doomed to repeat it.

(3) Those who cannot learn from the mistakes of the past are destined to repeat them.

(4) Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

(5) Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

This notion has been attributed to Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana, Anglo-Irish philosopher Edmund Burke, and British statesman Winston Churchill. Would you please help me to determine the correct phrasing together with a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1905 George Santayana published “The Life of Reason, or The Phases of Human Progress”. The twelfth chapter titled “Flux and Constancy In Human Nature” contained the following passage. Boldface added to excepts by QI:¹

Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

In the first stage of life the mind is frivolous and easily distracted; it misses progress by failing in consecutiveness and persistence. This is the condition of children and barbarians, in whom instinct has learned nothing from experience.

QI has found no closely matching statement in the writings of Edmund Burke. He did pen a thematically related remark in his 1790 book titled “Reflections on the Revolution in France”:²

People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.

QI has found no match in the writings or speeches of Winston Churchill who died in 1965. The saying was linked to Churchill by 1985.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: One Has To Belong To the Intelligentsia To Believe Things Like That: No Ordinary Man Could Be Such a Fool

George Orwell? Bertrand Russell? Thomas Sowell? Nicholas Kisburg? George Will? Apocryphal?

Picture of a dog with glasses from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: Intelligent individuals sometimes embrace remarkably foolish ideas. Here are four versions of an acerbic remark:

(1) One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool.

(2) This is one of those views which are so absurd that only very learned men could possibly adopt them.

(3) Only an intellectual could have said that; an ordinary person wouldn’t dare say anything so dumb.

(4) There are some things only intellectuals are crazy enough to believe.

This notion has been attributed to influential English novelist George Orwell and prominent British philosopher Bertrand Russell. Would you please help me to find the correct phrasing together with a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1945 George Orwell published an essay titled “Notes on Nationalism”. Orwell asserted that some British intellectuals in 1940 were confident that Germany and Japan would be triumphant in World War II. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

He could believe these things because his hatred of the British ruling class forbade him to admit that British plans could succeed. There is no limit to the follies that can be swallowed if one is under the influence of feelings of this kind.

I have heard it confidently stated, for instance, that the American troops had been brought to Europe not to fight the Germans but to crush an English revolution. One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool.

Thus, George Orwell did employ an instance of this saying. Bertrand Russell and other commentators also employed versions of this saying as indicated below.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Through Love, Through Friendship, a Heart Lives More Than One Life

Anais Nin? Rosalie Maggio? Katherine Young? Apocryphal?

Picture of two friends who are conversing from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: A deep emotional rapport with another person allows one to live vicariously. A famous diarist apparently said the following:

Through love, through friendship, a heart lives more than one life.

This statement has been ascribed to French-born U.S. author Anaïs Nin. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The quotation appeared in a diary entry dated December 27, 1922 within a volume titled “The Early Diary of Anaïs Nin 1920–1923”. The entry mentioned Nin’s cousin and friend Eduardo Sánchez. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

And Eduardo’s letters come to me, laden with sweetness, with peace and serene beauty and faith. And I bless that tie through which the bitterness of my experience is softened by a precious share of his!

Through love, through friendship, a heart lives more than one life and is made joyful or sorrowful by the experiences of many others. It is sweet to share all things thus and give and receive comfort and give and find inspiration and sustenance.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: Fascist Movement – To Fascinate Fools and Muzzle the Intelligent

Bertrand Russell? Ruth Nanda Anshen? Apocryphal?

Illustration of the Fool from the Rider-Waite tarot deck

Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent thinker said something like the following: the success of fascism is based on fascinating the fools and muzzling the intelligent. Would you please help me to determine the name of the author and the correct phrasing?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1940 U.S. philosopher Ruth Nanda Anshen compiled and edited a collection of essays titled “Freedom: Its Meaning”. Within this collection British mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell published an essay titled “Freedom and Government” which contained the following. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

The first step in a fascist movement is the combination under an energetic leader of a number of men who possess more than the average share of leisure, brutality, and stupidity. The next step is to fascinate fools and muzzle the intelligent, by emotional excitement on the one hand and terrorism on the other.

This technique is as old as the hills; it was practiced in almost every Greek city, and the moderns have only enlarged its scale.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order

Anecdote Origin: “Why Didn’t You Buy That From Me?” “You Never Asked Me.”

Henry Ford? Philip C. Gunion? Norval Hawkins? Apocryphal?

**Vehicle advertisement from Marmon Motor Car Company in 1928**

Question for Quote Investigator: Salespeople must directly and unambiguously request appropriate actions. This lesson is taught in an anecdote about a wealthy business magnate who purchased an expensive item. A friend of the magnate asked, “Why didn’t you buy that item from me?” The magnate replied “You never asked me.”

This tale has been told about industrialist Henry Ford. Different expensive items are mentioned in these stories including: a luxury automobile, a multi-million dollar insurance policy, and a large order of bolts. Would you please explore the provenance and authenticity of this story?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in March 1920 in “Printers’ Ink: A Journal for Advertisers” within an article by Philip C. Gunion who was the advertising manager at Hyatt Roller Bearing Company. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

You have all had salesmen talk to you fifteen minutes, present a smooth-sounding story, but one that meant nothing to you, so that when they finished you didn’t know whether they wanted you to say “yes” or “no,” spend one dollar or a thousand.

An interesting story on this subject was recently told me by the vice-president of the Hyatt Roller Bearing Company. Henry Ford was in Indianapolis one day visiting the Marmon plant. Mr. Marmon in the course of the conversation asked him why he didn’t buy a Marmon Sedan. Ford replied, “You never asked me before—sure, send me one.”

Several weeks later the car was delivered in Detroit and caused a sensation among the Detroit automobile men. One of them, a representative of the Pierce-Arrow, went to Ford and said,

“Look here, Henry, you and I have been mighty good friends in the Detroit Automobile Club for a long time, why did you go down to Indianapolis and buy a car? You’re a fine patriotic Detroit citizen, why didn’t you buy a Pierce-Arrow from me?”

“Because you didn’t ask me to,” replied Ford.

Henry Ford was asked to buy two expensive items: a Marmon automobile and a Pierce-Arrow automobile. Gunion stated that Ford replied with slightly different versions of the payoff line to two separate people.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: The Best Thing About the Future Is That It Comes Only One Day at a Time

Abraham Lincoln? Dean Acheson? Vermont Woman? Andrew Tully? Lion? Apocryphal?

Illustration of a calendar from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: Contemplating the future can be overwhelming when one is facing endless demands and myriad dangers. The following saying mixes humor, acceptance, and sanguinity:

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln has received credit for this statement, but I have never seen a solid citation, and I am skeptical. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: U.S. historians Don E. Fehrenbacher and Virginia Fehrenbacher published a comprehensive collection of remarks attributed to Abraham Lincoln titled “Recollected Words of Abraham Lincoln”. These experts indicated that the ascription of the quotation under examination to Lincoln was unsupported. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

For more than a century, undocumented quotations have been attaching themselves to Lincoln and gaining currency through repetition. Many of them are undoubtedly spurious. There appears to be no credible evidence, for example, that he ever said: . . . “The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time”.

The earliest match found by QI appeared in a 1950 article by journalist Andrew Tully of the Scripps-Howard newspaper company. Tully published an interview with Dean Acheson who was the U.S. Secretary of State. Acheson attributed the saying to an anonymous Vermont woman:²

“This is no job for a worrier. It’s a hard job and you can’t let yourself worry about it. I try to be as philosophical as the old lady from Vermont, who said that the best thing about the future was that it only comes one day at a time.”

Abraham Lincoln died in 1865. The saying was assigned to him by 1971. The long delay signaled that the attribution was spurious.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Quote Origin: If I Told You That You Have a Gorgeous Figure Would You Hold It Against Me?

Groucho Marx? David Bellamy? Max Miller? Monty Python? George Little? Barney Horrigan? Anonymous?

Picture of Auguste Rodin’s 1882 sculpture “The Kiss”

Question for Quote Investigator: In 1979 the Bellamy Brothers released a popular country music song with a humorous title:

If I said you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me?

This line has been attributed to the famous comedian Groucho Marx, but I have not been able to find a solid citation. Also, I have heard the following variant based on the same word play:

Person 01: What would you do if someone criticized your figure?
Person 02: Oh, I wouldn’t hold it against them.

Would you please explore the provenance of this family of jokes?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match located by QI appeared in “The Petroleum Engineer” magazine of Dallas, Texas in 1935. A miscellaneous collection of humorous items appeared together on a page under the title “Laugh With Barney” including the following dialog. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:¹

He: What would you do if a fellow criticized your figure?
She: Oh, I wouldn’t hold it against him.

The compiler of the humor page was Barney Horrigan, but the creator of this specific wordplay was anonymous. QI hypothesizes that the one-liner which appeared by 1945 evolved from the dialog version of the jest.

Groucho Marx died in 1977, and QI has found no direct evidence that he employed a joke in this family. An instance was tentatively attributed to him in 1979.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.