"Don't confuse me with facts!"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Not in YBQ, so far as I can tell.

GB coughs up a supposed ex. from 1915, but it looks suspect to me.  Then
nothing till 1945 - which seems legit:

1945  Roy S. Durstine in _Advertising & Selling_  XXXVIII 34 [GB: not
verified in print]: At last he reached for a cigarette and said softly:
"Don't confuse me with facts!" The agency group was speechless.

1954 _Investment Dealer's Digest_  XX 22 [ditto]: I'd Like To Help You Out
- Which Way Did You Come In? My Mind Is Made Up - Don't Confuse Me With
Facts.

1957 _Sioux County Capital_ (Orange City, Ia.) (Sept. 12, 1957) 2 [Newsp.
Arch]: Money isn't everything but it's way ahead of whatever is second
place. ...My mind is made up - don't confuse me with facts.

The long-form statement becomes common in the mid to late '50s.  I believe
I first encountered it (along with "I'd like to help you out...' and others
of a similar nature) in a deck of novelty "wisecrack" cards resembling
business cards, probably early in 1960.

JL
--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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