On the Internet, a warning against communication with stupid people, which is attributed to an American writer, is very popular. We decided to check if he said something like that.

This phrase of authorship of Twain is found on numerous sites with collections Quote And jokes. Her Use In their own works Modern AuthorsAlso with reference to the American writer. Users publish a quote social networks and blogs on "Zen"And in LJdiscussing services on portals questions And answers. Eksmo even published Collection The statements of Mark Twain, entitled by this phrase. It is noteworthy that expression about the meaninglessness of communication with idiots very Popular And in the English -language segment of the Internet.

Mark Twain was really very distinguished by wit, and many of his quotes became aphorisms over time. Therefore, to imagine that he could say something similar is easy. However, we were not able to find such a phrase in any of the works of the American writer. There are no written sources belonging to Peru Twain, for example, letters or diaries.

Independent researcher Barbara Schmidt created a site Twain quoteswhere she collected a large collection of aphoristic statements by this writer, as well as materials about him. House Museum of Mark Twain in Connecticut Recommends This source, so, apparently, this site can really be considered an authoritative and voluminous collection of Twain quotes. We checked the keywords from the quote checked: ""argue"(English - Argue),"idiot"(Eng. - Idiot) and"experience"(Eng. - Experience) - according to the alphabetical pointer on the site and did not find anything at least reminiscent of this phrase.

We checked the same keywords on the resource Mark Twain Project Onlinewhere a large digitized archive of texts belonging to the pen of this writer is assembled. And we also could not find anything like the statement attributed to him about disputes with idiots.

Matt Sebold, adjunct professional in the college of Elmira (USA) and a researcher at the Center for Research Mark Twain, studied the history of this quote and came to conclusionthat the writer never said anything like this. He was able to find a likely source of aphorism - an interview with a Hollywood actor Julom Brinner 1956 (Mark Twain died in 1910). Answering the question of what best advice he had ever received, the artist quoted his friend, French poet and artist Zhana Cocteau: “Never communicate with idiots at their level, because, being a smart person, you will try to get along with them at their level - and at your level they will always prevail over you.” However, Sebold notes, there is no evidence that Coctelee has really ever said something similar, and Brinner himself in other situations has repeatedly expressed different odious thoughts and attributed them to Coctea. So, according to the researcher, it is likely that the actor simply used the reputation of his famous friend to reinforce his own opinion.

By data The Quote Investigator project, the authors of which check the correctness of the attribution of quotes, this phrase has repeatedly met in the next decades in different sources - mainly either with the authorship of Coctea, or completely anonymously. Her formulation also underwent noticeable changes, although the meaning remained the same.

Sebold, who studied the archives of American newspapers of the last century, discoveredthat in 1998, the quote in its usual version appeared at once in several editions: Atlanta Constitution, Daily Oklahoman, Elmira Star-Gazette, Kansas City Star, LongView News-Journal. Journalists who used it did not indicate a specific author of the phrase, sometimes publishing anonymously, sometimes - referring to the unknown reader of the newspaper. In the same year, it is found in a medical journal published in Colorado in an article by an authoritative neurosurgeon Scott Wyingartenwho placed the statement in the list of “rules” on how to achieve your goals.

In 2009, the Twitter user with the nickname @mwalkercreative published tweet: “Never argue with idiots. He will beat you with his experience, and people around may not notice the difference between you ” - and attributed a quote to Mark Twain. Neither The Quote Investigator, nor Matt Sebold managed to find earlier publications in which a phrase containing a warning not to argue with idiots because of their experience would be attributed to an American writer. The second part of the phrase is also often attributed to Twain in the wording “Never argue with a fool, spectators may not notice the difference” and also to him does not belong. Here, the user mixed both quotes together.

Thus, there is no reason to believe that Mark Twain has ever said something similar. This phrase does not have any of his works, as well as in other written sources belonging to the enemy of the writer. The first case of attribution to him similar words is a message on Twitter, published in 2009, that is, almost 100 years after the death of Mark Twain. Obviously, if there were at least some evidence that it was he-the author of this phrase, attributed it to the writer to become much earlier. Most likely, the primary source of Aphorism was an interview with actor Jul Brinner, who, in turn, attributed to the poet Jean Coctea. And only then the quote was modified until she took the form in which we know her now, and at some point by mistake was attributed to Twain.

Photo on the cover: Samuel Langorne Clemens by Albert Bigelow Paine, CC0, Via Wikimedia Commons

Incorrect attribution of quote

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