Quote relating intelligence and conversational topic preference (1901 attrib Henry Thomas Buckle)

[Garson O'Toole]

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds
discuss people

In recent times, this popular quotation has been assigned to Eleanor
Roosevelt. Compelling evidence for this attribution seems to be
non-existent. Barry Popik performed great work tracing this saying
back to 1927. Here is a long link and a short link to his webpage on
this topic.

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/great_minds_discuss_ideas_average_minds_discuss_events_small_minds_discuss/
http://goo.gl/Wrveg

Wikiquote lists the saying under Eleanor Roosevelt and under Admiral
Hyman G. Rickover, but the Roosevelt entry is categorized as Disputed
and the Rickover entry is categorized as Misattributed. Forbes gives
the nod to someone named Hugh C. Cameron.

http://thoughts.forbes.com/thoughts/hugh-c-cameron

This post builds on Barry's discoveries. The earliest instance of this
family of quotations that I have located is in a memoir written by
Charles Stewart published in 1901.  In his memoir Stewart attributed a
version of the saying to the historian Henry Thomas Buckle. I
hypothesize that this is the seed for all the other variants.

Cite: 1901, Haud Immemor: Reminiscences of Legal and Social Life in
Edinburgh and London 1850-1900 by Charles Stewart, William Blackwood &
Sons, Edinburgh and London. (Google Books full view)

Buckle said, in his dogmatic way: "Men and women range themselves into
three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class
by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact
that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by
their preference for the discussion of ideas."

http://books.google.com/books?id=ICYLAAAAYAAJ&q=Buckle#v=snippet&


Here are additional selected citations in chronological order. In late
1901 Stewart's book was reviewed, and an extended excerpt from the
work was reprinted. The excerpt featured the quotation attributed to
Buckle. The "boy" in the following text refers to Stewart.

Cite: 1901 December 21, The Academy, The Quiet Man as Autobiographer,
Page 610, Publishing Office: Chancery Lane, London. (Google Books full
view)

In London the boy heard other good talk. One of his father's guests
was Henry Thomas Buckle, who would sometimes discourse for twenty
minutes at the dinner table.

[Indentation indicates that the next passage is from the book under
review: Haud Immemor.]

His thoughts and conversation were always on a high level and I
recollect a saying of his which not only greatly impressed me at the
time, but which I have ever since cherished as a test of the mental
calibre of friends and acquaintances. Buckle said, in his dogmatic
way: "Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of
intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always
talking about persons, the next by the fact that their habit is always
to converse about things, the highest by their preference for the
discussion of ideas."


In 1903 a more concise version of Buckle's remarks were presented. The
words were credited to Buckle and Stewart was not mentioned.

Cite: 1903, A Parish of Two by Henry Goelet McVickar and Price
Collier, Page 142, Lothrop Publishing Company, Boston. (Google Books
full view)

I believe it was Buckle, he of the "History of Civilisation," who
claimed that men and women were divided into three classes mentally.
The first and lowest class talk of persons; the second talk about
things; the third and highest about ideas.

http://books.google.com/books?id=6kwZAAAAYAAJ&q=Buckle#v=snippet&


In 1912 the quotation attributed to Buckle by Stewart was used in a
book about conversational skills. This instance was close to the
original but the wording was slightly modified. The saying was
credited to Henry Thomas Buckle and Stewart was not mentioned.

Cite: 1912, Conversation: What to Say and How to Say It by Mary Greer
Conklin, Page 179, Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York and London.
(Google Books full view)

Given conversation which is marked by conformity to all its unwritten
precepts, "Men and women then range themselves," says Henry Thomas
Buckle, "into three classes or orders of intelligence. You can tell
the lowest class by their habit of talking about nothing else but
persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to talk about
things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas."

http://books.google.com/books?id=1QAFAQAAIAAJ&q=Buckle#v=snippet&


In 1913 the book by Conklin was reviewed. The quotation given by
Conklin was substantially condensed by the reviewer, and the gist was
credited to Buckle.

Cite: 1913 January 23, The Continent (Continuing The Interior), New
Books, Page 118, Volume 33, Number 4, New York. (HathiTrust)

Mrs. Conklin points out certain bad conversational habits and suggests
good ones, quoting Buckle's classic classification of talkers into
three orders of intelligence—those who talk about nothing but persons,
those who talk about things and those who discuss ideas.

http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433003182858


In 1919 a version of the saying is used with the claim that it "has
been said long ago". No attribution is given.

Cite: 1919, Origin of Mental Species by Henry James Derbyshire, Page
95, H. J. Derbyshire, Flint, Michigan. (Google Books full view)

It has been said long ago that there were three classes of people in
the world, and while they are subject to variation, for elemental
consideration they are useful. The first is that large class of people
who talk about people; the next class are those who talk about things;
and the third class are those who discuss ideas.

http://books.google.com/books?id=BWIAAAAAMAAJ&q=classes#v=snippet&

This completes the citations for this post. Additional, more recent
cites are given on Barry's webpage.
Garson

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