Quote: I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have (Coleman Cox 1922)

[Garson O'Toole]

Laurence J. Peter's influential 1977 book of quotations was probably
an important locus for the misattribution of the saying to Jefferson.

Cite: 1977, "Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time" by Laurence J.
Peter, Page 505, William Morrow and Company, New York. (Verified on
paper)

[Begin excerpt]
I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I
have of it.      —Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Mon, May 28, 2012 at 4:43 PM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Quote: I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more
>              of it I seem to have (Coleman Cox 1922)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here are two versions of the same basic saying:
> (1) The harder I work, the more luck I have
> (2) I'm a great believer in luck.  The harder I work, the more of it I
> seem to have.
>
> I was asked about this quotation because a top venture capitalist
> credited the sentiment to Thomas Jefferson recently. Indeed, the
> saying has been ascribed to Jefferson for a few decades. However, the
> Monticello website states that there is no evidence to support that
> attribution.
>
> http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/i-am-great-believer-luckquotation
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Neither this statement nor any variations thereof have ever been found
> in Thomas Jefferson's writings.
> [End excerpt]
...

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