Groucho Marx quotes (Never forget a face; Accept me as a member)

[Fred Shapiro]

On Thu, 5 May 2005 bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

> "I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an
> exception." ... ON THE SIDE WITH E. V. DURLING Los Angeles Times
> (1886-Current File). Los Angeles, Calif.: Feb 16, 1937. p. A1 (1 page)

I've done a lot of work on Groucho, whom I view as one of the key
20th-century quotation sources.  This is earlier than what I had for "glad
to make an exception" -- thanks.

> A Marxman's Targets; GROUCHO AND ME. By Groucho Marx. 344 pp. Published
> by Bernard Geis Associates. Distributed by Random House, New York.
> $3.95. By ABEL GREEN. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York,
> N.Y.: Sep 13, 1959. p. BR18 (1 page) : He does revive the one about
> refusing membership in a Coast club on the ground that "any organization
> which would accept me as a member I don't want to belong to." ... ...

This is perhaps THE quote of the 20th century (see Woody Allen's "Annie
Hall" for commentary).  I have traced it back to 1950, as well as finding
precursors to it by Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain.

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
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  Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
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