[Ads-l] Modern Proverb: If you always do what you've always done, you always get what you've always gotten

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

I received two requests to examine the saying in the subject line. The
Dictionary of Modern Proverbs has an entry on the topic with a first
citation in 1985.

The earliest instance I've located appeared in "The Milwaukee
Sentinel" of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1981. The speaker was an educator
and counselor on family relationships and human sexuality named Jessie
Potter who worked for a non-profit organization she founded:

[ref] 1981 October 24, The Milwaukee Sentinel, Search For Quality
Called Key To Life by Tom Ahern, Quote Page 5, Column 5, Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. (Google News Archive)[/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
"If you always do what you've always done, you always get what you've
always gotten." That was the advice of Jessie Potter, the featured
speaker at Friday's opening of the seventh annual Woman to Woman
conference.
[End excerpt]

Yesterday, I posted a Quote Investigator entry here:
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/04/25/get/

The Quote Verifier does not have an entry for the saying, but I just
found out that Keyes does discuss it under the fake Einstein quotation
about insanity. Keyes says:

[Begin excerpt]
Comedienne Jackie "Moms" Mabley (1897-1975) was famous for a variation
on this theme attributed to her: "If you always do what you always
did, you will always get what you always got." Some version of those
words has been attributed to others as well, including Yogi Berra,
Dale Carnegie, motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, and cookie maker Wally
Amos.
[End excerpt]

There is a snippet match in Google Books with a GB date of 1981 that
probably falls in the range 1981 to 1983. Jessie Potter is credited
again. I omitted the cite because I haven't verified it with
paper/scans.

Year: 1981 to 1983
Periodical: The Journal of Physical Education and Program
Volumes: 79 and 80
Publisher: Physical Education and Program Sections of the Association
of Professional Directors of YMCAs, Columbus, Ohio. (Data from
Worldcat)
Quote Page B-10
Database: Google Books (Snippet data may be inaccurate; snippets
suggest that the volume contains at least "Spring 1981" and "Winter
1982"; HathiTrust suggests that volumes 79-80 span 1981-1983)

[Begin excerpt]
Another useful directive came from Jessie Potter, director, DHS, who
noted: "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get
what you've always gotten.
[End excerpt]

Garson

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