Quote: one can do a great deal of good if one does not care who gets the credit (antedating attrib Strickland 1863)

[Garson O'Toole]

1) There is no limit to what a man can do so long as he does not care
a straw who gets the credit for it.
2) One can do a great deal of good in this world if one does not care
who gets the credit for it.
3) The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit of doing them.
4) This was the opportunity for a man who likes to do a good thing in
accordance with the noble maxim … "Never mind who gets the credit."

This saying in a multiplicity of variations has deeply inspired a
large number of people. Yes, the maxim itself has accomplished quite a
bit. However, it is unclear who should get credit for the phrase. This
provides strong evidence for the accuracy of the precept. The idea has
become self-validating.

I hypothesize that a Jesuit Priest named Father Strickland deserves
primary credit for the saying based on a diary entry dated 1863
September 21 written by Sir Mountstuart E. Grant Duff and multiple
attributions thereafter. Secondary credit goes to Edward Everett Hale.

Another possible candidate for authorship is Benjamin Jowett. The
online Oxford Dictionary of American Quotation (ODAQ) has the
following quotation in the section labeled Anonymous:

There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go, if he
doesn't mind who gets the credit.

ODAQ gives a 1992 cite and identifies it as a business aphorism. ODAQ
also states, "The saying derives from the 19th-century classics
scholar Benjamin Jowett of Oxford University. He said, 'The way to get
things done is not to mind who gets the credit of doing them.'" But no
source is given.

The Quote Verifier gives a 1903 cite in which a version of the saying
is unattributed and a 1922 cite with a version by Charles Edward
Montague. Ralph Keyes concludes by crediting Benjamin Jowett
tentatively because no precise source is given.

Benjamin Jowett was Master of Balliol College, Oxford, and he lived
from April 15, 1817 to Oct. 1, 1893 according to Britannica. Below I
present the first attribution to Jowett that I could locate which is
dated 1905. However, I also present a 1911 reference by the co-author
of the 1905 work. In this later book the attribution is reassigned
from Jowett to a "Jesuit Father".

The Yale Book of Quotations also presents the 1922 cite written by
Charles Edward Montague. The wording of Montague's version in YBQ is
the first listed above. Further below is a 1906 citation written by C.
E. Montague that includes a variant of the saying. Montague states
that historian and journalist William T. Arnold "liked the saying".
But Montague does not credit Arnold or himself with the maxim;
instead, he attributes the words to "someone".

Here is a partial selection of relevant citations in chronological order:

Citation: [1863 September 21: Date on Diary Entry] 1897, Notes from a
Diary 1851-1872 Volume I by Sir Mountstuart E. Grant Duff, Page 237,
John Murray, London.

Met at the house of the Rev. C.K. Paul, at Stourminster Marshall,
Father Strickland, an English Jesuit, who said to me - "I have
observed, throughout life, that a man may do an immense deal of good,
if he does not care who gets the credit for it."

http://books.google.com/books?id=TU8wAAAAIAAJ&q=%22credit+for%22#v=snippet&
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._E._Grant_Duff


Citation: [1887 November 4: Date on Diary Entry] 1900, Notes from a
Diary 1886-1888 Volume I by Sir Mountstuart E. Grant Duff, Pages
223-224, John Murray, London.

On this subject she entered into various details of which I make no
note, but which led me to quote the words once used to me by an
English Jesuit. "Ah! one can do a great deal of good in this world if
one does not care who gets the credit for it." She was so much struck
with this that she ran to the end of the room in which we were talking
and wrote it down.

http://books.google.com/books?id=IHYNAAAAIAAJ&q=%22credit+for%22#v=snippet&


The next two citations concern Edward Everett Hale, author and
Unitarian clergyman, and his motto about disclaiming credit.

Citation: 1893 February, The Californian, Men of Letters by James
Realf, Jr., Page 303, Vol. III, No. 3, The Californian Publishing
Company.

 (The quoted individual is Edward Everett Hale.)

"Another rule of mine," he playfully said to me, "is never to do
anything I can find another to do for me, and besides this it has been
the motto of my life for many years not to care who gets the credit so
long as a thing is done as it ought to be."

http://books.google.com/books?id=DcEUAAAAYAAJ&q=%22credit+so%22#v=snippet&
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Everett_Hale


Citation: 1896 October, The New England Magazine, "Norwich,
Connecticut" by Leonard Woolsey Bacon, Page 181, Volume XV, No. 2, New
England Magazine Co.

This was the opportunity for a man who likes to do a good thing in
accordance with the noble maxim of Edward Everett Hale: "Never mind
who gets the credit."

http://books.google.com/books?id=C68VAAAAYAAJ&q=maxim#v=snippet&q=maxim&f=false


Citation: 1897 April 24, The Speaker, Review of Notes from a Diary,
Page 460, London.

The following remark of Father Strickland's, an English Jesuit, is
full of marrow and fatness: "I have observed throughout life that a
man may do an immense deal of good if he does not care who gets the
credit of it." Members of Parliament, please copy.

http://books.google.com/books?id=4AMoAAAAYAAJ&q=%22credit+of+it%22#v=snippet&


The following cite is given in the Quote Verifier. No attribution is
given in the text, but it is similar to the quote attributed to Father
Strickland.

Citation: 1903 March 21, The Friend: A Religious and Literary Journal,
Page 284, Column 1, Vol. 76, No. 36, Society of Friends, Philadelphia.

"ONE can do a great deal of good in this world if one doesn't care who
gets the credit for it."

http://books.google.com/books?id=VMcpAAAAYAAJ&q=%22gets+the+credit%22#v=snippet&


The next cite contains an attribution to Benjamin Jowett. The editors
of the volume are performing the attribution and not John Ruskin.
However, in a 1909 citation further below the co-author Cook changes
the attribution for the phrase from Jowett to "a wise man" then in a
1911 work he reassigns the quote to a "Jesuit Father".

Citation: 1905, The Works of John Ruskin edited by Edward T. Cook and
Alexander Wedderburn, Introduction, Page xliv, George Allen, London.

In letters to Mrs. Norton, he gives a lively account of his
difficulties and his devices. "Everybody sends me their opinions
privately; I pick out what I want and prepare it as Mr. So-and-so's,
patting it hard on the back." He saw the truth of Jowett's saying,
that the way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit of
doing them.

http://books.google.com/books?id=uCjCcsFHxZ4C&q=%22credit+of%22#v=snippet&


In the next cite Charles E. Montague uses the phrase but he makes no
claims about authorship. He attributes the words to "someone".

Citation: 1906, Studies of Roman Imperialism by William T. Arnold,
With Memoir of the Author by Mrs. Humphry Ward and C. E. Montague,
Page lix, University Press, Manchester.

(Memoir: Middle Life by C. E. Montague)
There is no limit, someone has said, to what a man can do who does not
care who gains the credit for it. Arnold, who liked the saying,
thought that for a man who wished to get things done there was no work
like journalism.

http://books.google.com/books?id=SqsUAAAAYAAJ&q=%22credit+for%22#v=snippet&


The next cite might leave a reader with the impression that William T.
Arnold crafted the expression given in quotes. But an earlier cite
shows that Arnold likes the saying but makes no claim to authorship.

Citation: 1907 January, The American Historical Review, Reviews of
Books, Page 351, Volume XII, Number 2, American Historical
Association.

Few people were aware of the services which Arnold rendered to the
public, and of his record as a journalist, for he held the opinion
that "there is no limit to what a man can do who does not care who
gains the credit for it".

http://books.google.com/books?id=UxA5AAAAMAAJ&q=%22no+limit%22#v=snippet&


Citation: 1908 February, The Atlantic Monthly, The Contributors' Club:
Vocation and Avocation, Page 286, Column 1, Atlantic Monthly Co.

It has been truly said that there is nothing like journalism for any
one who is anxious to get things done and does not care who gets the
credit for them.

http://books.google.com/books?id=aMkSAAAAMAAJ&q=%22gets+the+credit%22#v=snippet&


Citation: 1908, Thomas George Earl of Northbrook G.C.S.I.: A Memoir by
Bernard Mallet, Pages 292-293, Longmans, Green and Co., London.

Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff quotes in his diary  (vol. ii. p. 293) a
saying of Father Strickland to the following effect: 'One may do a
great deal of good in this world if one does not care who gets the
credit of it.' I have come across very few people in my public career
who have really acted on this principle.

http://books.google.com/books?id=II5pAAAAMAAJ&q=%22credit+of+it%22#v=snippet&


Citation: 1909 (Copyright 1903), Abnakee Rugs by Helen R. Albee, Page
26, Cambridge: Printed at the Riverside Press.

This village is becoming far-famed for its artistic  productions, and
though the name of the English founder is usually forgotten when the
village is described, the handicrafts that flourish there are a living
monument to his genius. Certainly of him it could be said in the words
of an English Jesuit priest: "It is wonderful how much good a man may
do in this world if he does not care who gets the credit of it."

http://books.google.com/books?id=bidJAAAAIAAJ&q=credit#v=snippet&


In the next cite Edward T. Cook again uses the phrase he attributed to
Jowett, but this time he attributes it to "a wise man".

Citation: 1909, Edmund Garrett: a Memoir by Edward T. Cook, Page 105,
E. Arnold, London. (Google snippet view) (Hathi Trust limited search
only) (Not verified on paper)

The journalist, with unmoved muscle, applauds, as if they were new to
him, the "bold initiative," the "happy phrase," or the "convincing
arguments" which he, it may be, has supplied to the statesman. And
this, I think, is generally the more excellent way; for the way to get
things done, as a wise man has said, is not to mind who gets the
credit of doing them.

http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000187332
http://books.google.com/books?id=qhLLOzWyOooC&q=%22wise+man%22#v=snippet&


Citation: 1911, The Life of John Ruskin Volume 2 1860-1900 by Edward
T. Cook, Page 154, Macmillan, New York. (Hathi Trust full view)

"Everybody sends me their opinions privately; I pick out what I want
and prepare it as Mr. So-and-so's, patting it hard on the back."

He saw the truth of the Jesuit Father's saying, that the way to get
things done is not to mind who gets the credit of doing them.

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ptsearch?id=uc1.b3556281&q1=jesuit
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b3556281

In conclusion, I have proven incontrovertibly that I am somewhat tired
of searching and assembling quotes on this topic. So here it is!

Garson

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