Chesterton, Start, Quote, The International News Company, New York. Chesterton implausibly ascribed to humorist Artemus Ward who died in 1867 a statement that partially matched the target: 1911 October 14, The Illustrated London News, Our Notebook by G. Mark Twain once said that “the trouble with old men is they remember so many things that ain’t so,” but this book of war reminiscences is different from most of Twain’s reminiscences. Miller, (Advertising material for the author’s previous book: What Henry Haynie Has to Say in the Boston Times of D. In 1909 an advertisement within a book called “A Drum’s Story” ascribed a remark to Twain about old men and memory that contained the key word “trouble”: 1909, A Drum’s Story: And Other Tales by Delavan S. Upon reading the first item we are forcibly reminded of the pertinent and pithy remark of the lamented humorist, Josh Billings, that the trouble with a great many of us is “we know so many things that ain’t so.“ The full statement included the key word “trouble” which occurs in the target saying: 1900 October, The Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette, Volume 16, Number 10, Department of Notes and Queries, Start, Quote, The Gazette Publishing Company, New York. In 1900 “The Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette” printed a statement attributed to Billings with quotation marks surrounding only a segment. Perhaps, as Mark Twain observed, it is better not to know so much than to know so many things that aren’t so. Brown, Start, Quote, Column 2, San Francisco, California. Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.īillings died in 1885, and in 1899 a religious orator whose words were recorded in the pages of “The Pacific Unitarian” reassigned a rephrased version of the saying from Billings to Twain: 1899 February, The Pacific Unitarian, Volume 7, Number 4, Address of Rev. This remark partially matched the saying under investigation, and it acted as a seed in the evolving family of remarks. I honestly believe it is better to know nothing than to know what ain’t so. Here is the statement written with standard spelling: I honestly beleave it iz better tew know nothing than two know what ain’t so. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI: 1874, Everybody’s Friend, Or Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, Section: Affurisms: Sollum Thoughts, Quote, American Publishing Company, Hartford, … Continue reading The following pertinent item appeared in a section labeled “Affurisms”, i.e., “Aphorisms”. The work employed dialectal spelling which causes headaches for modern researchers who are attempting to find matches using standard spelling. For example, in 1874 a compendium of wit and humor from Josh Billings was published. The family contains some comments with genuine ascriptions. Attributions are shifted from one prominent humorist to another.Statements are hybridized together to produce new statements.Three processes operate on members of the family to generate new members and ascriptions incrementally: The saying is difficult to trace because it falls within an evolving family of remarks concerning faulty knowledge and memory. The creator remains anonymous based on current evidence. Yet, it is unlikely then any of them said it. The observation has been attributed to several other prominent humorists including: Josh Billings (pseudonym of Henry Wheeler Shaw), Artemus Ward (pseudonym of Charles Farrar Browne), Kin Hubbard (pen name of Frank McKinney Hubbard), and Will Rogers. Website: Center for Mark Twain Studies, Article title: The Apocryphal Twain: “Things We Know That Just Ain’t So.”, Article author: Matt Seybold, Date on website: October 6, 2016, … Continue reading Quote Investigator: Scholars at the Center for Mark Twain Studies of Elmira College have found no substantive evidence supporting the ascription to Mark Twain. The brilliant humorist Mark Twain receives credit, but I have been unable to find a solid citation. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. Mark Twain? Josh Billings? Artemus Ward? Kin Hubbard? Will Rogers? Anonymous?ĭear Quote Investigator: The Oscar-winning 2015 film “The Big Short” begins with a display of the following statement:
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